Only In Death
by gatosicarius
Summary: In the battles to free Remnant from the Grimn and the terror they pose, one Space Marine officer passes into local legend.
1. Chapter 1: Only In Death

Lieutenant Markus of the Ultramarines 4th Company looked upon the bunker full of wounded and scared humans and Faunus. His demi-company has been dispatched to help the local Remnant citizens evacuate in the wake of an encroaching Grimm horde. That was until he'd been separated from his Battle Brothers by a bomb planted upon a bridge by the damnable White Fang .He'd fallen into a ravine and, thanks to his power armour and unique Primaris physique, he'd come through without much more than a case of annoyance.That had been several hours ago.Since then, he'd discovered this old shelter full of injured refugees and...

"Huntress Ruby? Huntsman Jaune? Is that you?"

He saw a pair of grimy faces look at him and slowly register who it was."Lieutenant?" Was the reply from the former. A tint of relief in her tired voice.

She hobbled over, several blood stained bandages across her right leg and arm, leaning on a battered Crescent Rose for support. Jaune wasn't much better with a splint on his left leg."By the five hundred worlds... what happened?"

He knew that these Hunters and Huntresses were far tougher than they looked. Their strange powers giving them a sturdiness almost on par with his own power armor.

Almost.

"Ambush. Beowolves and Ursas caught us off guard as we were trying to evacuate these civilians. The others had left them to die." Anger, hot and intense, flashed in her silver eyes before she inhaled and continued. "There's a lot of sick people here. Old and young with a few orphans and the others just... left them."

He gingerly placed a gauntleted hand on her shoulder.

"You did well. Where are the others? Your sister?"

She smiled."They're all here. Battered and bruised and exhausted. Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, and Blake making sure there are no ways in from under us. Ren and Weiss are badly hurt. We got off fairly light... some of the people..."Tears welled in her eyes as the frustration of defeat showed itself.

Markus nodded. "You did well Huntress. Far more would have died had you not been here." She nodded in return and hobbled back to where she was before and slid back next to Jaune. Markus stepped back outside the old complex and tried to hail his brothers on the Vox again. Surprisingly, he got a response this time."Brother-Lieutenant? By the throne we thought we'd lost you." Replied Chaplain Bariel."Not quite Brother. I do have a situation however. Do you have a fix on my location?"

"Yes Brother. What is it you require?" The Lieutenant explained the situation to the Chaplain and sent his coordinates and upon cross referencing mapping from the flotilla above, they discovered that they weren't far. A half an hour away through the dense forest. The Lieutenant almost sighed a breath of relief before his helmet's auspex scanner began flashing a warning."Brother Chaplain. You'd better get here immediately. We have incoming... a lot of incoming. I will hold them as long as I can but you must rescue these people brother. Do you understand?" The Chaplain replied tersely and Markus could hear the Chaplain begin barking orders when he cut the link.

Markus stepped back inside the bunker and strode to Ruby as best as he could while not hitting his head on the low ceiling."Huntress Ruby... we have a situation." He said as low as his helmet would allow. This still got the attention of a few worried glances from those close enough to hear."He explained that the long range auspex had picked up the Grimm horde. And that same horde would be brought to their position like moths to a flame due to the despair nearly everyone felt."Huntress that door can hold... but not under that number of Grimm. Gather your teammates here. I will stay outside and-""NO!" He heard her almost yell. He was taken aback. It wasn't every day that a mortal told a member of the Emperor's own Angels of Death 'no'.If nothing else he admired her courage."You can't! They'll cut you to pieces! That's way too many Grimm!" She tried to get back to her feet, to fight, to protect those who couldn't face the Grimm head on but she fell, hissing as the deep lacerations on her leg protested the use of the limb."Ruby. Jaune." Markus began, while gingerly placing his hands upon her and Jaune's shoulders. "You are in no condition to fight. Your fighting strength is at 50% at best and your companions will be needed if the Grimm can overcome me."His blood red eye lenses betrayed nothing of his own thoughts. He would like nothing more than to fight alongside the quirky young mortals again. He'd found it quite fun. But he couldn't leave the civilians and the wounded at the mercy of the Grimm."Live. Both of you. Learn from today's mistakes and regain your honor. You both have more potential than you could dream of. But you must live." He rose and made for the door. It was then that the four able bodied hunters made it back up, weapons drawn, wondering what the commotion was. Yang's face lit up when she saw the deep blue of the Lieutenant's warplate."Markus!! We didn't know you were here!"

The Lieutenant smiled. These mortals never ceased to amaze and amuse him. He heard Ruby sniffle and began to close the heavy blast door."Waitwaitwait!! What's happening! Lieutenant!?" He heard the young blonde call as he closed and jammed the door behind him.After a few moments he heard Ruby explain what was happening and when she was finished, he heard Yang and Blake come to the window, panic in their voices."Lieutenant!? What are you doing?? Let us help you!" He unslung his bolt rifle and checked the magazine before ensuring a bolt was chambered."I cannot, Huntress Yang. You and yours are not in any shape to fight like this. I will hold them."Yang's temper was glaring and he could see her eyes turn scarlet red."YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW! MARKUS! YOU'LL NEVER SURVIVE! MARKUS!"He heard pounding on the reinforced steel door. He could hear the civilians start looking out the bunker windows to see the cause of the commotion."Huntress Yang. I will be fine." He said as he felt the ground begin to tremble. His auspex began picking up close range contacts. Then more. And more. And more still.The Lieutenant flicked the safety off on his bolt rifle and raised it, primed and ready.

The first Grimm to enter the valley's head explodes as the .75 caliber bolt penetrates and then detonates turning the fleet footed Beowulf's head into red mist and shrapnel.There were more though and the Space Marine was happy to distribute his rocket propelled death evenly among them.He felled them as quickly as they came at him, bolts exploding through chest cavities and heads. But still more cameHe reloaded and kept firing this time with short bursts. The foe was slowly getting closer with more and more beowolves coming through the wood line and towards their prize. He reloaded again, slamming the magazine home and charging the action before placing the muzzle into the mouth of the first beast to reach him and pulling the trigger. He was firing fully automatic now, sacrificing accuracy for volume as the horde arrived en mass.

Click.

He was empty again, but this time he only had time to eject the spent magazine before the Grimm were on him.The Beowulf lunged, teeth bared for the Space Marine, before a blue gauntlet smashed into its face and pulverized its skull. He slammed another magazine home and resumed firing. The bolts struck home with each report, bits of Grimm exploding from the corpses.Lieutenant Markus kept this up until his ninth, and final, magazine was empty. He was far from defenseless, however, he laid the trusted rifle on the ground before drawing his bolt pistol and the four foot long blade he kept at his side. The power sword shimmered with blue energy."COME FORTH FOUL BEASTS! I AM MARKUS OF THE ULTRAMARINES AND WHILE I STILL DRAW BREATH YOU SHALL NOT HARM A SINGLE SOUL BEHIND ME! COME TO ME AND DIE!" His challenge echoed across the valley as the vox amplifiers made his voice sound impossibly loud. The Grimm roared in return and charged all at once, hoping to crush the blue annoyance with sheer numbers."FOR GUILLIMAN! FOR ULTRAMAR!" He bellowed as he rushed forwards, purity seal papers rushing in the wind as he met the attackers. The ensuing fight was caught on no fewer than 8 scrolls recording from the bunker. What they saw was a whirlwind of blue in a vast sea of black.

There had to have been dozens of Grimm! If not a hundred or more!

But the Ultramarine stood firm, hacking and slashing and blasting and breaking the hated foe. With each swing of the power sword, a Beowolf or an Ursa were split in two and with each report of the bolt pistol, a Grimm fell over missing its head.

Somewhere in the maelstrom, an Ursa began to run for the bunker, hoping to get at the softer targets within. The crowd screamed as the devilish creature came within 20 feet of the bunker. But it suddenly fell backwards as if its hind legs had given out underneath it. It took the people inside a moment to register the towering blue knight had caught up to and cleaved the Ursa in half with a two handed, overhead strike."YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME INHUMAN FILTH! AS LONG AS I BREATHE YOU SHALL NOT SET A FOOT INSIDE THAT BUNKER!" The Primaris Space Marine hurled the bisected pieces of the Grimm at the nearest beast before drawing his pistol again and blasting several in the face.

Click.

He was out of ammo now. He holstered the pistol and drew his combat knife in a reverse grip. Lieutenant Markus' two hearts were hammering in his chest now, the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he slew and slew and slew some more. He would not allow these beasts near those people. H

e realize for a moment after beheading another Beowolf that he might even consider the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR friends. An Astartes! Having mortal friends! He laughed at the irony of discovering what friends were even as he was neck deep in Grimm and slowly taking more and more damage. His helmet's warning tunes kept informing him of the puncture wounds he'd been receiving. One in his abdomen was rather deep. He ignored the pain and kept cutting and slashing.

He could not fail.

He would not fail.

That was all that was on his mind until the world went blank for a few moments. He woke up a second later and several feet from where he had been. His helmet took another moment to correct his vision and when it did, he was staring into the eyes of an Ursa Alpha.

A big one.

The biggest he'd seen in the six months he'd been on the planet. The beast struck, attempting to behead the noble space marine with a single blow, and it could've, had he not moved. The Primaris Space Marine had lost his helmet though, the end of the Ursa's claw knocking it from the head of it's wearer. Markus rolled to his feet and hefted his sword. The knife had been lost but it was no matter.

They circled one another, one apex predator to another. One Angel of Death and one devil from the nightmares of man. They charged one another, the Ursa swept down, and Markus dove to the right. His power blade came up in the flash slicing the Ursa's arm from its body with such speed the beast didn't realize it was gone at first. This enraged the beast and it charged him, catching him off guard, and knocking him off his feet. The beast came down with crushing force, upon Markus's abdomen, where his armor was weaker, and ran the Lieutenant through with its savage claws. He let no more than a grunt escape his lips. Lieutenant Markus then rammed the power sword through the Ursa's skull before shoving the beast aside.

He stood, somewhat shakily. The wound was serious but not fatal, the blood was already clotting. He spat a bloody wad of spit onto the Alpha's dissolving corpse.

The forest was... eerily quiet now. But the Lieutenant's super human hearing was picking something up now.It sounded like a horse. A moment later a large Grimm, larger than the Ursa appeared.It has a horse body and it seemed to be... dragging a body behind it. The horse stopped and the Space Marine's senses told him to tense for the fight of his life. The top half of the creature sprang up in jerky motions as it looked for prey. It spotted the Ultramarine and let loose and yell that made Markus's skin crawl in disgust."YOU MEAN TO FRIGHTEN ME BEAST? I KNOW NO FEAR!" He answered with his own bellowing warcry and charged at the beast, dodging swings from its huge, spindly arms as he ran. One arm was intercepted by his power blade and the beast screamed as the pain of losing an arm registered to it. The sonic blast caught the Lieutenant off guard just long enough for the beast to impale the space marine through his damaged abdominal plate.

He truly yelled now as the pain lanced through his whole body. The pain was so intense he dropped his sword and struggled to pull himself free as the beast hauled him into the air.The giant Nuckelavee brought the mortally wounded marine to its face and bellowed a victorious screech, Hoping to elicit some small amount of fear from this hated foe. All it saw were defiant blue eyes to match its own rage tinted red eyes.

The Lieutenant used the last of his strength to perform one last act of defiance. As the creature was likely preparing to split him in half, the Space Marine drew back and punched the creature as hard as he could. The blow stunned the beast just long enough for him to prime the krak grenade he'd had in his grip and shove it into the beast's gaping maw. The top half of the hated creature exploded moments later as the armor piercing shaped charge blew the damned thing in half.

Markus fell to the ground with the beast's hand still impaling him. He grunted and pulled the offending protrusion free and very shakily got to his feet. There were still and handful of beowolves In the field of dissolving black. But they weren't coming. Markus found his sword and stood over the body of the horselike Grimm, blood pouring from his ruined abdomen."IS THIS WAS PASSES FOR FURY AMONG YOUR MISBEGOTTEN KIND!?" He never got the answer.

The Grimm never knew what hit them.

They had no time to react to the two Inceptor squads landing in their midst and blasting half a dozen of them into atoms with their plasma weapons. More gunfire erupted as he heard the telltale signs of a Repulsor cutting loose with its Gatling cannons and grenade launchers on whatever Grimm were left in the valley.

Lieutenant Markus finally fell to one knee. Using his blade to steady himself he looked back to the bunker and smiled weakly as Yang finally blasted through the door and the Huntsmen and Huntresses rushed over to him. Even Ren and Weiss struggled over to him as fast as their blood stained bandages would permit.

He collapsed onto his back as soon as Ruby got to him."Nononononono!" She shrieked as tears were streaming down her face."Don't you die on us! HEY YOU GUYS! YOUR FRIEND IS HURT! GET A MEDIC!" He vaguely heard Jaune yelling to the first Intercessors to break through the wood line. Markus felt his vision darkening around the edges as his blood poured onto the green grass. He knew he wasn't much longer for this world. But something still confused him."Huntress... Ruby... w-why do you and your companions weep?" He managed rather hoarsely.

She looked puzzled so he went on. "Do.. do not weep for me. I have done my duty Ruby. Look. Not a single one of those bastards made it to the door." Markus coughed up some more blood and Jaune called desperately for a 'medic' yet again. And this time he heard the steady whooshing of the Repulsor much nearer as the door slammed open on the troop compartment. He felt the cold blackness washing over him as the Apothecary rushed over attempt to save his life."O-only in death... does duty... end." He managed as he passed on.


	2. Chapter 2: Does Duty End

It took barely any time at all for the scroll footage of Lt. Markus' last stand to become viral across the CCTS. Across the world of Remnant the people who had been cautious, if not cold, to the visitors in the flotilla above began to warm ever so slowly to their interstellar cousins.

There was a particularly strong admiration of the Space Marines that had shown how far they would go to protect humanity. In slums and even the academies themselves there were small ultima symbols being painted on walls or scribbled on notebooks as a symbol of hope. That instead of simply surviving the Grimm and bearing with their existence the people of Remnant could finally _win._

That was all very far away from the mind and notice of Primaris Captain Cassiel for he had more important duties to see to at the moment. Such as the internment of his friend and second in command into the chassis of a mighty Redemptor Dreadnought. He ran his augmetic left hand against the golden nameplate of now Dreadnought Markus as the techmarines and techpriests worked to ensure the Lieutenant's new body was working at pique condition.

"Brother-Captain? We are ready to awaken him if you are ready." Spoke the gravelly voice of Techmarine Polaris. The techmarine was of the older breed of space marine and Cassiel had roughly a foot of height over him. This meant nothing to the Captain, however, because the techmarine was a master of his craft and was trusted implicitly by the crew of the ship.

"Yes. I shall speak to him. Thank you."

Polaris nodded and typed out the commands on his arm computer while the techpriests began the rites of awakening.

The coffin's systems whirred to life as power was fed into it.

"Markus? Are you with us, brother?"

The dreadnought was silent.

"Markus?"

There was a gravelly sound, almost like a groan, came from the vox speakers.

"Uuughh... Cap-tain?"

The techpriests began monitoring the vitals of Markus closely. Many dreadnought inhabitants lost their minds upon learning their of their fates.

"Yes brother. I am here."

Markus was quiet for several seconds.

"...I see I am no longer flesh and blood, am I?"

The techpriests sent bursts of binary code to one another and kept working.

"You are right brother. You are not. Your wounds were quite grevious and even the Chief Apothecary was hard pressed to save your life."

"... I see."

Markus was quiet for a long time as his vitals spiked slightly for a short time before leveling out.

"Captain. I may no longer be your Lieutenant but I will still serve. Tell me where you need me."

Dreadnought Markus was... slightly unsettled. The prospect of being in a coffin for the rest of his days was... daunting. He was on the verge of panicking until he remembered the mantras of the long away days of M31.

 _Theoretical: I sold my physical life in the service of others._

 _Practical: I am now a walking tank, capable of sundering all but the stoutest of foes._

 _I still can serve._

He vaguely remembers Captain Cassiel saying something but he was too busy getting accustomed to his new eyes and ears.

He could see the techpriests messing with the nearby cogitators while the techmarine, Polaris, he thought his name was, was closely monitoring his vitals and brainwaves.

"Markus?"

He would've jolted in surprise if he'd had the ability to do so.

"Yes Brother Captain?" He noted the look of concern on his Captain's face.

"My apologies. I was getting accustomed to my new body. My thoughts wandered."

The Captain sighed. "It is fine brother. I was simply saying that it may be some time until your body is ready. Until then, the techpriests recommend putting you in cryosleep."

Markus' vitals spiked until Cassiel raised a hand.

"That is, if you would like to. I care not what the priests of Mars wish. You are my brother before you are a dreadnought and I shall respect your wishes."

Markus noted the chuffed looks upon the techpriest's faces.

"I wish to be awake Captain. To better adjust myself to my new reality."

Cassiel nodded.

"Very well."

He turned to leave then.

"Brother-Captain I have a request."

Cassiel stopped then and turned to his friend and former second in command.

"Yes brother?"

Markus paused and would've exhaled then if he could.

"Those refugees and the warriors of this world. Would you inform them I still live? I fear they may be taking my loss hard."

Cassiel nodded. He didn't understand why Markus had grown so attached to the people of this world but then again Markus had always been the more 'human' of the two of them.

"Consider it done. I believe it's about time I introduced myself to the leaders of this world anyways."

He turned to leave then and strode down the corridor towards the hangar where a transport was waiting for him while affixing his crested helmet.

"Make the Thunderhawk ready and send a message to the world leaders. I wish to meet with them in a days time." He pulled the information of the facility where Markus's... friends(?) were healing their bodies.

Back on the planet Ruby Rose sat in the hospital in a state of melancholy. Her wounds had been treated and she would make a full recovery in a week's time and Jaune, Ren, and Weiss were all in the same room in various states of healing.

Weiss had a mild concussion in addition to several bruised ribs and a broken arm, Ren had 8 broken ribs and several bruised organs but was slated for a full recovery, and Jaune had a broken leg that was raised in a cast. Everyone else had assorted cuts and bruises and weren't worse for wear.

Yang had practically lived in the hospital for several days until Ruby convinced her she was fine and to go get some rest. Blake was the same with Weiss, Nora with Ren, and Pyrrha with Jaune. Now all four were alone in the room with Ren and Weiss fast asleep, their bodies dedicating most of their energy to mending broken bones.

"So... about Markus." Said Jaune abruptly, causing Ruby to jump.

"He... was a hero. What he did was... I don't know how to describe it." She mumbled. She'd still had nightmares of the huge horselike Grimm nearly tearing him in half.

Jaune nodded. "He was the stuff that legends are made of. I've never seen someone take on that many Grimm alone. Even thinking about it would be suicide for even the most seasoned of Huntsmen."

She thought back to when they first met.

He'd appeared during the disaster that was the Vytal Festival.

 _Six months earlier._

The city was in flames. The attack of the White Fang had been sudden and devastating leaving hundreds dead or wounded in the streets. The insurgents were setting fires indiscriminately and gunning civilians and local police forces down on sight. Ruby was separated from her teammates and searching frantically for them.

She was still emotionally distraught from the cruel way Penny was butchered in front of the entire stadium.

She couldn't let anyone else die.

She wouldn't let anyone else die.

Ruby turned the corner, Crescent Rose ready in its sniper rifle configuration.

Nothing.

Burning cars but the street was otherwise deserted.

She still advanced cautiously ready to put a fire dust bullet into the first bad guy she saw.

She grimaced at her own juveline label and at the fact she may have to hurt another person... maybe even kill them.

 _I'd rather be fighting Grimm._

In hindsight, she would chastise herself for testing fate in such a way.

She knew the situation had deteriorated but when she saw the Alpha Beowolf burst into view.

She almost fired until she saw that the Grimm hadn't even noticed her. It was facing the alley and growling. Upon closer inspection she saw that the Grimm was in sorry shape.

In fact, it looked as if it was _running_ from something and whatever could force a Beowolf Alpha to retreat was something she had to be very cautious with. She used her semblance to rush to a nearby fire escape and took aim with Crescent Rose.

 _KER-CRACK._

Ruby flinched when the Beowolf's head exploded into a fountain of gore.

And then she saw them. Eleven giants clad in blue armor with impossibly large rifles. The bullets alone must be the size of her hand!

She aimed at the one with a golden laurel wreath upon his helm.

If she had to attack, she would at least take out their leader.

"You there!" Called one with a red helmet.

Her eyes grew wide.

 _How had they seen me!? The glare from the fire alone..._

The one with the laurel stepped forward, his own rifle lowered. The others lowered there own rifles reluctantly.

"Yes young girl we can see you. Please come down. We mean you no harm."

"Brother Lieutenant what by the throne are you doing?!" Called Sergeant Tassius over their internal vox. Their team had been sent as back up for the Reiver squad already on the ground. They were in the buildings above and had their pistols trained on the unknown woman armed with what seemed to be a powerful stub sniper rifle.

"We must know more Sergeant. These locals have been away from the Imperium for who knows how long and if the size and speed of that creature were any indication, then these people are likely hearty and capable in their own right. No need to make enemies for no reason."

Sergeant Tassius kept his finger near the trigger of his auto bolt rifle, ready to send a spray of mass reactive bolts at the unknown target.

The Lieutenant continued and walked closer, caution evident in his slow steps.

"I am Lieutenant Markus of the Ultramarines 4th Company. We are a flotilla of a single battle barge and two strike cruisers with a few support vessels and heard the distress calls of this city when we crashed into the system."

Markus then laid his rifle on a burned out car as a sign of truce. "We wish to help."

Ruby eyed the giant carefully. She could make nothing out of his body language and his helmet covered his face entirely, but he seemed sincere. She cautiously jumped from the fire escape, keeping the gun on him as she walked forwards, ready to spring into action.

Her mouth was dry and she felt like she had cotton in her throat.

"Y-you want to help? Why?"

The next words would have normally caused her to snort with how cliché they sounded. But today... they put her at ease.

"Because we are the defenders of humanity."

She lowered her rifle a fraction.

"And why should I believe you?"

The blood red eye lenses seemed to stare directly into her very soul.

"Theoretical: You shouldn't. My story is as impossible for you as yours will likely be for me. Practical: This city is under siege from terrorists and beasts that seek nothing more than the destruction of humanity. While me and my brothers were made to destroy their ilk."

She was silent for a long time as she thought, heart hammering as this eight foot tall giant offered her the key to saving Vale and everyone she cared for.

She made her decision.

"My name's Ruby. Ruby Rose."

The giant seemed to relax a minuscule amount.

"Well met Ruby. Squad Orion, Squad Hera, Squad Atlas you may approach now. Set up a cordon as we gather information."

Ruby jumped as ten more giants with leaner armor and skull faced helmets lept from the tops of smaller buildings. More advanced up the alley way with guns that glowed blue and seemed to radiate barely contained heat. The final squad, a trio trudged out of the alley in armor that made the others look small.

"So Ruby. What is the situation?"

And so she told him. And he listened patiently and calmly to her crazy story like a parent.

"And... that's where we stand now."

He was silent as he picked his rifle back up and turned to the rest of those under his command.

"Ultramarines. We make for this Beacon Academy. There seems to be relics of great power and importance there that some foul creature desires the use of to subjugate humanity. We may be stranded far from the Indomitus Crusade, but that matters little. We serve humanity wherever we are! Courage and Honor!"

Their reply echoed off the buildings as the beings pounded their chests.

"Now. Ruby please guide us. My Space Marines shall carve a path straight to the enemy's black heart. I am eager to meet this 'Cinder'."

Ruby took off ahead of the strike force with the Reivers of Squad Orion following closely behind, with their strange equipment. The skull masks unsettled her with their red eye lenses not to mention their 'knives' were as long as Jaune's sword.

Markus kept up a blistering pace on the ground with the rest of his Space Marines jogging alongside him. From what the girl had told him, the city was in a precarious position.

He hailed the vox.

"Brother-Captain. We have made contact with a local that seemed to be a member of this planet's PDF and she informed us of what is happening. It seems the taint of Chaos is not here but there are forces no less vile. Recommend combat deployment Beta towards the breaches in the city walls."

The response was quick and Markus smiled when he heard who was being sent.

 _These poor fools have no idea what's about to hit them._

 _Outskirts of Vale City_

The Valean soldiers near the breach were hard pressed. The smaller Grimm went down easily enough with a few bullets to the chest or head but the larger and smarter ones were a far different story. They could survive entire fusillades of rifle fire before _one_ was brought down and more and more of the Alphas were beginning to appear.

Another wave rushed forward, a black tide of pure malice, baying and wanting the defender's blood and all those that inhabited the city.

The line was thinned to the extreme now and though the Valean soldiers were disciplined and well trained were still only human and the casualties had slowly but surely been taking their toll.

They opened fire with steaks of fire dust erupting from their barrels and immolating the smaller Grim, while the few hunters that had managed to make it to the breach singled out the Alphas and attempted to bring them down before they reached the battered city defenders.

The veterans of that night would describe the events as the wrath of a vengeful god falling upon the Grimm.

The defenders were too busy fighting the Grimm to notice the twelve blue armored meteors rocketing their way towards the ground at terminal velocity while the Grimm themselves were too preoccupied with butchering the crews of the airships that had begun to retreat.

The Inceptors fired their boosters, lighting the night with streaks of blue flame as the jump packs fought the downward speed of the heavy Inceptor plate. The Space Marines landed between the Valean soldiers and the Grimm blocking the creatures of the damned from their prey like a phalanx of blue descending from the heavens themselves.

"Brother-Sergeant, teleport homer in place." Called one of them after dropping a large, cumbersome contraption in the charred dirt.

The smell of ozone permeated the air and with ten flashes of blinding light, wrath incarnate appeared to deliver the doom of their enemy.

Twenty one space marines in Tactical Dreadnought Power Armor stood like a wall, towering over the Valean soldiers.

Entire armies were shattered with less.

The center consisted of truly ancient and revered suits that had strode the stars since the Great Crusade. Five suits of Cataphractii terminator plate and five suits of Tartaros Terminator plate made an impenetrable wall of blue ceremite. The outer flanks consisted of the newer Indomitus pattern with the front and center being one figure in a skull mask wearing plate that was midnight black while bearing a large mace.

"We will handle this mortals. Gather your forces while we wipe this filth from your walls." Called one of the Space Marines in the Cataphractii plate.

The Grimm, which had been stunned for several moments as the cascade of lights played havoc with their eyes and the teleportation played havoc with their sense of smell, had regrouped and charged headlong at the new foe.

Their primitive brains, even among the Alphas, had assumed these 32 new foes would make no difference. None would live to regret this grevious miscalculation.

"Brothers! Let us not keep the Captain waiting! Purge this filth so that he may land! For Ultramar!" Called the one in the black terminator plate.

The Inceptors bounded high in the sky, hunting the largest beasts with their plasma weapons and sending searing blasts into their bodies with pinpoint accuracy while the terminators waded into the the black tide, the Cataphractii using their lighting claws and heavy flamer to exact an absolutely brutal toll upon their enemies. The Tartaros and Indomitus brothers lumbered forwards, combi-bolters and stormbolters barking and assault cannons, Reaper Autocannons, and missile pods tearing score upon score of the beasts into fine chaff.

Stormtalon gunships streaked overhead, breaking into a hover before cutting the rest of the hoarde to pieces with assault cannon and heavy bolter fire and Stormhawk interceptors chased the largest Nevermores through the sky, Icarus stormcannons tearing them to pieces as they flew.

The veterans of that day would again speak of the way that these avenging angels descended from the heavens and obliterated a force of at least two thousand Grimm in the span of thirty minutes and how they'd saved Vale from almost certain destruction.

 _Inner Vale City_

"There seems to be fighting ahead. Inside the academy buildings." The Reiver Sergeant called to Markus over the vox. They'd made great progress through the unfamiliar streets thanks to the young woman's direction. Markus also noted with a wry grin that the Reiver Sergeant sounded almost winded in his attempts to keep up with the young woman with strange powers. He had to admit the rose petals were a bit peculiar though.

"Acknowledged. Force disposition?"

He heard a grunt as the Sergeant climbed up another building and took up an overwatch position.

"Abhumans. Armed with close combat weapons and stub guns. They seem to be gua-DAMMIT MORTAL WHERE..."

The line cut for a moment.

"My apologies Lieutenant, the mortal rushed ahead, saying something about a sister and gave away our position. Throne she's fast! Engaging now."

Markus cursed under his breath.

"Understood. We are thirty seconds away."

The space marines picked up a dead sprint as they rushed into the open area where the Reivers were engaged with thirty of the abhumans.

And were actively tearing them to pieces with swift strokes and cuts with their combat knives. At this point the Reivers saw no point in using their Heavy Bolt Pistols.

Over half of the combatants were chopped meat or were trying to run as the enhanced vox emitters screamed at them from skull faced helmets scared them out of their wits.

Inside the cafeteria, Blake held onto Yang with fearful tears in her eyes, trying to stem the blood loss from the stub that was formerly her right arm. Adam had just chopped her arm off as if her semblance and aura hadn't even existed and was currently floating about his victory and how wrong she'd been for leaving.

He stopped for a moment upon hearing gunfire and screams of terror from his men outside.

It was then that Ruby burst in, worry painted all over her soot stained features. She froze when she saw the blood all over the tile floor.

And her sister...

"YANG!"

She looked to Adam, something cold in her eyes as she brought Cresent Rose into its scythe configuration.

"What... did you do to Yang!?"

Adam scoffed and readied his sword.

She was about to spring forwards when she heard heavy footfalls behind her.

She turned to see Markus standing behind her.

"Ruby you should not advance ahead your allies. That is not tactically sound."

Ruby looked dumbfounded as the giant strode ahead of her.

"The injured woman is your sister?"

She nodded, still puzzled as to how exactly he'd caught up to her.

"Take care of her. I will handle this filth."

"But..."

He looked back.

"Do what I could not."

He stepped by the two on the ground, Yang only barely regained consciousness at the same moment Ruby rushed to her side.

Adam readied his sword again, his Faunus instincts screaming at him to run as fast and as far away as he could, but his pride and arrogance overwriting that basic urge.

"What are you? A new Atlas mech? Some android?"

Markus maglocked his bolt rifle to the small of his back and removed his helmet with a hiss of the seals being undone.

His unaugmented voice was deep and rich with an ancient tone. He reminded the three girls of a warrior king.

"Does this answer your question filth?"

Adam chafed under the insult.

Before he could retort, Markus continued.

"Is this what you call battle? Attacking those who are exhausted or unable to defend themselves? Pathetic. I normally wouldn't waste my blade upon scum such as you but... I will make an exception if only to humble you before I choke the life from your worthless bones."

It was then that Markus reached for the hilt of the sword in the sheathe at his hip.

The master crafter blade shone in the light offered by the fires, the painstakingly letters etched into the blade reading 'Ultramar Improbulus'.

He pressed the activation rune and azure light lept over the four foot long blade as the power field activated.

"Come on then coward. If you can force me from his spot I will let you live."

Adam lept at the Space Marine beginning the battle with a full power overhead swing. Markus blocked the blow with practiced ease and pushed the Faunus away.

 _Theoretical: He is used to having the power advantage._

 _Practical: Without having the power advantage, he will crumple like a piece of parchment._

Adam, for his part, was shocked his blow was blocked so easily.

He tried again and again and again, to no avail. It was like attacking an armored wall.

"Is that it? Very well. My turn."

Adam felt something break through his aura a microsecond before be brought his own blade up to block the blow.

His blade shattered along with half the bones in his dominant arm.

Adam howled in pain and clutched the shattered remnants of his arm.

"Who... what are you?"

Before Adam could react he was impaled through the chest on the sword like a meat skewer.

"I am a member of the Emperor's Angels of Death. And so long as you are an enemy of humanity, I shall come for you without remorse and without pity. Now die so I can clean your disgusting cowardly blood from my blade."

Adam attempted to choke out a final curse but the space marine withdrew his sword and hacked the terrorist's head from his shoulders.

 _Present day._

Ruby had never forgotten that day. At first she was horrified at the display of violence she witnessed from the Space Marine that day. But the more she interacted with her strange savior, the more she saw he was a genuinely kind hearted soul. He didn't cause unnecessary pain where he could but he would never tolerate those who would harm a person.

She was broken out of her trance by a loud jet engine outside and near panic of the hospital employees.

She jumped from her bed and rushed to see a huge gunship touching down in the field outside the hospital.

When the ramp dropped she saw the one she remembered Markus calling his Captain step out with his crested helmet and white cape flowing in the jet engine backwash.

She recognized him.

He was the one that had saved Pyrrha and Beacon.


	3. Chapter 3: I Shall Bring Light

Captain Cassiel stepped down the ramp of the Thunderhawk to greet the first time he'd seen this planet's surface in the daylight. His boots touched the grass as the engines began to power down and he looked to the hospital where the warriors that Markus had grown so attached to were healing.

His honor guard followed closely, Storm shields engraved with the Ultima affixed to their forearms with their power axes maglocked within easy reach should they need it; gold glinting off the evening sun.

A Medicae from the facility, a senior one, rushed out the door and started towards Cassiel. He had worry plastered over his features.

"Do not seem intimidating brothers. We are here to... make peace."

Not only was that nearly impossible for eight feet of genetically enhanced muscle to seem nonthreatening, but the concept of peace was rather strange for the Captain. He'd grown up in the years after the initial Word Bearer attack upon Calth that had rendered its surface uninhabitable. He'd entered the Legion only to be frozen by Cawl for ten thousand years as the Legion went to a Chapter and the galaxy burned as he slept.

He wasn't bitter, just frustrated, for he'd wished to take the battle to the enemy when there'd still been hope. The current state of the Imperium... vexed him much like he imagined it vexed his Primarch, Roboute Guilliman.

He sighed and strode towards the Medicae worker. They were clearly the leader for the facility, with them being middle aged and with a thinning hairline. His eyes held evidence of fatigue and he was somewhat pale.

"Greetings. I am Captain Cassiel of the Ultramarines 5th Company."

"H-hello." The Doctor replied meekly. "I am Doctor Thorne. How may I help you Captain?"

Cassiel noted that the poor man was on the verge of passing out. He remembered Markus telling him that sometimes the sheer inhumanity of their transformation sometimes left mortals barely even able to control their bowels.

He believed it was called 'transhuman dread'. And his friend often attempted to find ways to circumvent this. One of his common tactics was showing that there was, in fact, a human underneath the layers of ceremite.

Cassiel undid the seals on his helmet, popping them with a hiss, before lifting the MKX helmet from his head and maglocking it to his belt next to his holstered plasma pistol.

He had been told he'd been quite handsome with his closely cropped brown hair and green eyes with a chisled jawline and a couple well placed scars. He noted several of the nurses' faces flush momentarily before turning his attention back to the doctor.

"My apologies for arriving unannounced Doctor. I wished to speak to those who had seen Lieutenant Markus during his battle last week. I have a bit of news they may welcome."

"O-o-of course. Please follow me!"

The Captain signaled for his honor guard to remain where they were. He doubted they'd be needed in addition to the difficulty of fitting 3 space marines into corridors not designed for them.

Cassiel kept his helmet off as they walked through the corridors though he still had to bend down somewhat. The facility was eerily quiet except for a few of the Medicae rushing about with more seriously wounded charges to care for, the fatigue evident in their eyes and sluggish movements. They still found time to look as his deep blue power armor with a type of... reverence. The patients who had seen Markus were even more obvious. They ignored their hurts to get even a glance at him as he strode by. They had something else in their eyes. Where normally refugees had downcast and defeated looks after losing everything these people had something else.

A shimmer of hope.

 _Is this how the Legionnaires of old felt when they liberated a planet?_

He decided it had to be. Though he vaguely recalled his original thoughts on the Legion he still couldn't quite remember the reactions of the other inhabitants of Calth.

The doctor stopped before a large door.

"Okay Captain. They are resting in here." Doctor Thorne was still shaking, but less so now and he no longer looked as if he was about to faint.

"Thank you Doctor. I shall only be a moment."

He took a breath and entered the room.

Ren and Weiss had groggily awoken to Ruby's frantic shaking, either cursing her while hissing in pain in Weiss's case or by groggily fighting through pain medication in Ren's case. Both were mostly coherent by the time the giant entered the room.

If Markus's armor had been detailed and resplendent in its ornate beauty then this one put their late friend's armor to shame.

The cape across his back was white with golden trim with the symbol of an eagle on the bottom corners, a red rope hung across his chest that didn't quite cover the golden eagle undermeath it, his right shoulder pad was more gold still but the outer trim was black, his left shoulder pad was fairly plain but inside its black trim was the famous white 'U' of the Ultima. His left arm was mechanical from the elbow down and upon his right hand was the largest glove they'd ever seen with golden wings and a silver plate above the knuckles that said 'Cassiel'. Lastly, they saw an oversized pistol in a rich brown leather holster upon his left leg with a large crested helm that was hanging upon his belt.

There was no doubt about his rank but Ruby's eyes fell upon the dozen or so wax seals with papers scattered about the armor plates. Markus had told her that each 'purity seal' indicated great battle honors and/or wars won.

Markus had 6 such seals.

Compared to Markus's commanding officer, Ruby seemed to be wet behind the ears and green as grass.

She suddenly felt very small.

"Greetings. I am Captain Cassiel of the Ultramarines 5th battle company. I understand you were aquainted with my battle-brother, Lieutenant Markus?"

The room was silent for a few moments more as the four wounded Huntresses and Huntsmen took in the sight of their late friend's commanding officer.

"Y-Yes?" Was the reply of Weiss once she'd gathered her wits.

"Good. I was asked to inform you that he still lives in a matter of speaking."

Ruby's eyes went wide with joy and surprise as she sprang up, wincing as she aggrevated her wounds.

"He's still alive? How? Is he okay? Why hasn't he tried to contact us? Was he in a coma?"

These questions were all asked over the course of about a second and a half. Cassiel blinked, his eyebrow shooting up in surprise at the rapid fire questions.

"...sorry." Ruby laugh nervous as her cheeks flushed in mild embarrassment.

"It... is quite alright. I was unaware mortals could speak so fast. But yes he is alive... in a manner of speaking. I will not talk of it now but you will see him soon with some luck. And yes, he has been in a medically induced coma since he was rushed aboard my ship. I have known him since we were both but children and I owe a great many favors to him. He asked me to inform you that his demise was greatly exaggerated. And... I have fulfilled that obligation. Now if you forgive me, I must take my leave I plan to meet with the leaders and influential peoples later tomorrow. I wish you all well."

Cassiel turned to leave before Ruby called out.

"Wait!!"

But he kept walking. It wasn't that he hadn't heard her, because he had. He could hear everything in this floor of the hospital and it wasn't because he disliked mortals either. In fact, unlike many of his cousins, he found mortals quite fascinating in their thought patterns and how they behaved when not under the threat of constant obliteration.

He was just unused to dealing with mortals.

Markus had always been more personable than his commanding officer, charismatic even. They'd often joked that Markus had the makings of a legendary Chaplain had he wished to take to the black.

"Darn it I said wait!" She said after hobbling out into the hallway.

Ruby had to think quickly. Not only did she wish to know the fate of Markus but she also had a hunch that Cassiel was going to be making waves across the entire planet over the next few months and she'd be damned if she missed this chance. She had to think of something, anything, to get the giant to at least stop. Then she realized something that Markus and every other Ultramarine had said since she'd known them.

"Theoretical!" She called. And Cassiel stopped.

"Theoretical... y-you... don't know the local customs and cultures. Nor the truly powerful people here."

Cassiel was silent for a few moments.

"Practical?" He asked. Genuinely curious now.

Ruby gulped. "I have this information. And members of my teams know many of them personally."

He turned and looked her in her silver eyes.

"Theoretical." He began.

"Your injuries will keep you from performing at peak efficiency."

She hobbled a little closer. "Practical. We want to be advisors and cultural bridges. Not warriors yet."

He crossed his arms and was silent for a long time as he ran through his options.

"Very well. When you are able to, you may join us."

Ruby sighed a breath of relief and rushed off to collect her things. "Okay! I'll get ready now!"

Cassiel huffed a laugh and continued down the hallway. These mortals never ceased to amaze and amuse him. He remembered the liberation of Vale City.

 _Six months earlier._

The Storm Raven shook with the turbulence of atmospheric entry. Not bad enough that Cassiel had to take a seat, but bad enough that he needed to steady himself with the handhold near the ramp. He flexed the augmetic arm and his armor told him all systems were green.

"Thirty seconds Brother-Captain." Called the pilot as he jinked around a particularly large Grimm. Cassiel heard the hurricane bolters and turret mounted assault cannons loose a long burst at the offending beast.

"Affirmative." He switched vox channels.

"Brother Markus we are thirty seconds away. What is your situation?"

He heard a quick burst of bolt rifle fire followed by orders bellowed by a sergeant through the vox.

"Brother-Captain? We are holding the landing zone in the city. There seems to be no end to these 'Grimm' as the local inhabitants know them as. I am coordinating with Chaplain Bariel as best I can but the situation is grave. Recommend full deployment. This is no strike of opportunity."

Chaplain Bariel chimed in then, the heavy servos of his terminator plate faintly working as the Chaplain began carving through another wave of grim.

"I concur Brother-Captain. There seems to be no end to them and they seem to be concentrating on the large facility in the center of the city according to the augers. That is where the Lieutenant is located."

Cassiel pulled up the tactical display in his helmet and noted the enemy movements. They were making concerted efforts to push through the terminators at the breach in the walls while others were pouring in through subways, sewers, and anywhere else they could.

The Storm Raven banked right as the neared the landing zone several blocks away from Beacon Academy and went into a hover ten meters from the ground.

The ramp lowered and Captain Cassiel, his honor guard, and another ten Intercessors lept to the open courtyard.

The group all landed with their respective weapons immediately up and ready for any threat. When none came, they began to fan out with the Intercessors training their bolt rifles at any likely hiding spots while the honor guard kept close to their Captain.

Cassiel keyed his long range vox and called for a full combat deployment to the city before beginning to move towards Lieutenant Markus's last known position.

In orbit, the Strike Cruisers moved into position under the watchful gaze of the Battle Barge. They both began dropping drop pod after drop pod along with Thunderhawks. The night sky exploded with flames as the pods and gunships entered the atmosphere at insane speeds.

On the ground, a young family cowered in a shop. They had been enjoying the Vytal Festival to its fullest with watching the bouts and enjoying the good food. When things took a turn for the worst, they'd tried to go home. But when the androids went haywire, the wall exploded, and the White Fang attacked they'd become trapped in a shop where an elderly couple had allowed them to take cover. Now they were trapped. The Grimm were clawing at their door and it was only a matter of time before they forced their way in.

The parents of the small children did their best to reinforce the door but only a miracle could save them now.

There was a loud crash outside that shook the block. And then another and another.

The Grimm stopped clawing at the door and they looked outside through a crack in the barricade. They saw a huge slab of metal sitting in the street and the Grimm seemed drawn to it like moths to a flame. The sides exploded open with enough force to shake the building and shatter glass and the doors crushed the closest Grimm. When the doors were open, the Grimm charged but were summarily cut to bloody ribbons as fully automatic fire lanced through them and turned them into so much dissolving meat.

Then they saw them. Giant knights clad in blue armor.

They stepped out of the pod and one with a red helmet seemed to look at the hiding family. He called out to his squad mates.

"Civilians spotted."

Then he walked to the barricade. "Worry not. We shall cleanse this place of these creatures. Stay here and we shall return when the block is safe."

One who's huge rifle had a grenade launcher called out this time.

"Brother-Sergeant we have hostiles incoming. Several dozen coming down the main avenue and behind us."

The Knight nodded to the family.

"ULTRAMARINES! FIRING LINE! Combat Squad Alpha towards the Avenue, Beta cover the rear!"

He drew what seemed to be a chainsaw sword and pulled the pistol from his holster.

The sergeant saw how afraid the civilians were.

 _Well, the Brother-Captain said to make a good impression._

"LITANY OF DEVOTION!" He bellowed, the vox amplifier making his voice echo off the building.

The Ultramarines replied in unison, while bolt rifle fire cut the Grimm to pieces:

 ** _"WHERE THERE IS UNCERTAINTY, I SHALL BRING LIGHT!"_**

The bolt rifles banged into the charging horde. Each bolt taking the wretched life of a Beowolf or a Creeper.

 ** _"WHERE THERE IS DOUBT, I SHALL SOW FAITH!"_**

The Grimm screamed in hatred and pain as the mass reactive shells tore more and more into them.

 ** _"WHERE THERE IS SHAME, I SHALL POINT ATONEMENT!"_**

The Grimm were closing in, climbing over the corpses of their fallen brethren.

 ** _"WHERE THERE IS RAGE, I SHALL SHOW ITS COURSE!"_**

The last Grimm lept at the sergeant only to be intercepted mid air by the whirring chainblade. The strike nearly cut the beast in half and it landed on the cobblestone with a wet smack. The sergeant placed his boot on the back of the Beowolf as it tried to desperately crawl away and said, in a level voice; "My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field."

He raised his pistol and put a single bolt in the back of its head.

Captain Cassiel approachedthe gates that read "Beacon" and stepped through the rubble stricken courtyard. There were bodies of students and faculty scattered about. Their wounds varied from stub gun wounds to vicious claw marks.

He grimaced and drew his plasma pistol.

"Stay alert brothers. It seems the enemy is already here."

They were silent but he heard safeties flick off and power weapons powering up.

His auspex was picking up movement all around his group.

"Markus are you in the campus grounds?"

The line was static. There was massive interference from an unknown source. It wasn't deliberate jamming but the power nearby was enough to cripple vox communication.

 _This is troubling._ He thought.

He heard fighting from the top of the spire. And looked up to see sparks and great energies expending themselves.

"Come brothers. We must investigate what that is."

And so the fifteen Space Marines entered the school. The silence would have been unnerving to anyone else but the Space Marines quickly made their way to the top with the help of augers.

It was there that Cassiel nearly blew Markus's head off after both of them rounded a corner at roughly the same time.

Cassiel breathed a sigh of relief.

"Markus. Its good to see you."

The Lieutenant lowered his bolt rifle. "Likewise Brother-Captain. I'm sure you're aware of the vox interference."

He nodded.

Cassiel noticed the small figure near Markus's side.

"Who is that?"

The Lieutenant turned and motioned for her to step forward.

"This is Ruby Rose. She offered to help us through the city."

"Hello." She said halfhearedly. She seemed exhausted and like she'd been crying. But there was an unmistakable flame in her silver eyes.

"Greetings. We can handle th-"

"I'm not going." She replied with ice in her voice.

One of his honor guard stepped forward to reprimand her but he stopped them with a single arm. At the very least, he admired her courage for interrupting him.

"Very well."

They continued and Markus explained why she was so driven. She wished to pry the heart from the chest of the planner of this attack and avenge her severely wounded sister. Cassiel conceded that he'd have done the same.

They continued until the sounds of fighting were incredibly close.

"Ruby. When this door opens, point out all, if any friendlies. We will handle the rest." Markus said to her.

She nodded and readied her weapon.

The Intercessor Sergeant kicked the heavy door open and they were all outside in a matter of seconds, weapons raised and ready.

They were greeted with the scene of a beaten and bruised woman in bronze looking armor flying into the wall beside them.

"PYRRHA!" Cried Ruby as she rushed to the woman's aid and every weapon trained on the figure that came around the corner.

They all saw the face of an arrogant woman in a red dress, with flames all around her.

"PSYKER!" Cried Markus. And the space marines opened fire upon her in unison. The mass reactive bolts seemed to explode a foot from her but they saw the look of shock and alarm on her face when she saw the effects of the massive shells hitting her aura.

She let a shockwave out and knocked several marines from their feet and collapsed a tower, isolating Cassiel and his honor guard with her. Cassiel and his honor guard charged not allowing her a chance to strike again.

And by the throne was she fast.

Fast enough to keep from being skewered by the honor guard's power swords and pummeled by Cassiel's power fist but not fast enough to show the worry that now plastered her features.

She let a jet of flame loose upon two of the honor guard and at this range their Storm shields did little to protect them. They screamed as they died and Cassiel yelled in anguish and shot an overcharged shot from his pistol directly at the woman's face. She barely managed to dodge the shot, the plasma searing the left side of her face as it passed.

She glared at him and smacked aside the remaining honor guard with a huge wave of concussive force.

This unbalanced Cassiel and knocked him over and as he collected himself, the woman concentrated flame in the tips of her fingers. The flame turned white with heat and she plunged the arm into his chest. The flame cut through ceramite and he clenched his teeth in agony as the arm penetrated his chest and instantly cauterize the wound even as it penetrated further.

Time moved in slow motion as Ruby flew past the Captain, and hit the woman with the butt of her scythe.

Her arm withdrew from his chest as she was knocked into the nearest tower.

Ruby stood over Cassiel with her scythe ready and looked to him, turning slightly pale when she saw the bloody hole in the ceramite.

"I am fine." Cassiel coughed as he stood again.

"No you're not! How are you even standing!?" She replied with worry etching her features.

"I have taken worse wounds. Here she comes." He said grimly.

He deactivated the warning runes in his helmet as he focused on the fight. He powered up his powerfist and vented the plasma pistol while Ruby loaded a new round into her gun/scythe.

The woman came at them like a force of nature.

Cassiel's Iron halo was able to absorb most of the blast she sent at him and both he and Ruby replied with a flurry of plasma bolts and large caliber rifle shots.

The woman rushed them while dodging the fire and Cassiel stood his ground as Ruby dodged to the right. She hit him with the force of a damn Ogryn and tried to knock him over again.

This time he had braced himself and had a reply ready.

As she hit his left shoulder pad, he drew back with the power fist and sent a blow that could've caved in the skull of a Carnifex directly into her chest.

Her aura was all that saved her as she took the unexpected blow and was sent several meters back while coughing up blood.

Ruby didn't miss her chance and hit the woman with a blow from her scythe that broke through the woman's aura and cleanly sliced her left arm off.

She wailed in pain and clutched the stump that used to be her arm. She glared at the young girl and didn't notice that Cassiel had closed the distance, his powerfist crackling with energy.

He drew back and before the blow could connect, there was an explosion of black as a wave of pure malice radiated from the woman.

He remembers black eyes and white hair and then.

Nothing.

 _Present Day_

Cassiel made it back to the Thunderhawk without delay. There was a small crowd that had gathered around the honor guard. They were still as statues as long as the civilians kept a healthy distance away from the open ramp of the gunship. Many were simply curious since it wasn't every day that people saw 8 foot tall demigods with axes and shields.

His chest itched again from the wound that woman gave him.

He took no small satisfaction in the look of surprise she had when he stood back up no worse for wear. Granted the whole ordeal landed him in the Apothecarion for two whole days.

"Brothers we will be taking on a passenger. Be on your best behavior." He said to the honor guard via their personal vox.

The more senior of the pair huffed. "You wound me Brother-Captain. I am always on my best behavior."

Cassiel made it to the ramp and expected to have to wait for Ruby to gather her things but no sooner did he get half way up the ramp did he hear her simply appear at the foot of the ramp, rose petals falling slowly behind her.

"Okay! I'm ready!" She said slightly out of breath with a small rucksack on her back.

Cassiel laughed and commended her enthusiasm. "Very well. Brothers! We make for Vale."

Ruby climbed aboard the massive ship and the ramp closed behind her.

A new adventure was beginning for the young Huntress.


	4. Chapter 4: Oath of the Moment

QA:

Q: Is Remnant going to be annexed by the Imperium?

A: Ultramar specifically.

Q: Is Penny going to come back?

A: ;)

Q: Will there be other Imperial Forces

A: I was considering some House Terryn Knights and possibly some Deathwatch.

The Thunderhawk banked around the mountain range towards the recovering Vale City. The automated guns on the rebuilt walls tracked it until the IFF had confirmed it was friendly. Cassiel went to one of the side doors and called Ruby over.

"Ruby you may wish to see this."

He opened the armored door and Ruby peered out into the early morning air and she gasped.

The city was well on its way to recovery.

There was still evidence of battle damage but the corpse of the petrified Wyvern was gone, the drop pods that had been used to deliver space marines directly to the city had been collected and removed, and even some of the more catastrophic damage had scaffolding around it.

She couldn't help but smile slightly. Ruby was able to enjoy a small victory. The losses of the previous week and the battles since the Battle of Vale had weighed hard on her conscience. But now she saw the fruits of her own labors and the labors of all other Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Their deaths and sacrifices hadn't been in vain.

The Thunderhawk touched down at a courtyard at Beacon campus. The open area had been given by the miraculously still alive Professor Ozpin in the aftermath of the battle for use by the Ultramarines. It turns out he was able to survive due to a timely intervention of Pyhrra Nikos and a few well placed shock grenades from a pair of Reivers that had been drawn by the sounds of battle. The back ramp dropped and Cassiel stepped down to greet Chaplain Bariel. Since Markus had been interred in a Dreadnought, Bariel had taken the majority of his leadership duties until Cassiel could find a replacement.

"Greetings Brother-Captain." He said as they clasped wrists. Cassiel had exchanged his powerfist for his personal master crafted blade in case he had to do any hand shaking or the like.

"Hello Bariel. How goes the reconstruction? Any deficiencies?"

The skull masked marine shrugged.

"About as many to be expected. The civilian population took heavy casualties, as did the local defense forces and we have had to pick up some of the slack. What I wouldn't give for a single son of Dorn though."

Cassiel laughed, his vox grill making it sound like more of a growl.

"Even the Templars?"

The chaplain tilted his helmet in thought.

"On second thought maybe we are fine as we are."

They both chuckled and Ruby coughed behind Cassiel.

"Ah I don't think you've been introduced. Ruby this is my company's chaplain, Bariel. Don't let the skull visage fool you. He's as much of a spiritual counselor as a warrior. Should you have any philosophical or spiritual questions, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to assist you."

The Chaplain made a slight bow. He was a full head shorter than Cassiel, a member of the Old Breed of Space Marine. His armor was covered in honor markings and purity seals and on his belt was a crozius arcanum with a grav pistol in a holster.

"A pleasure."

"Hello! Nice to meet you!" She said cheerily, still partially enamoured by how swift the rebuilding was going. If someone had told her a few months ago the city would be well on its way to recovery, she'd have called them crazy. But to see it now...

Cassiel began to move towards the entrance of Beacon, the temporary capitol building since the council of Vale was murdered six months prior.

"You went to schola here did you not, Ruby?"

"School? Yeah, in fact I'm still in my first year! The school itself is so great and full of history! It has made some of the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses that Remnant has ever seen!"

Ruby was so enamoured with telling her very tall aquaintence all about Beacon that she didn't notice the rather tall blonde haired woman approaching them with a stern expression on her face. Cassiel noticed her immediately and his hand subconsciously hovered near his holstered plasma pistol.

"Good morning, I am Glynda Goodwitch, I understand you are the representative of the... Ultramarines? I apologize if my student has been bothering you. They are all under strict directions to leave your forces in peace."

Ruby jumped and turned to see one of her professors looking at her in mild disapproval.

"Greetings," Cassiel said. "I am the Captain of the Ultramarines 5th company and the representative of the 4th in my Brother's absence. I also assure you that your student is with me by my request. I have chosen her as a representative of sorts."

Her eyebrows raised slightly in doubt but she said nothing of her thoughts.

"I understand you wished to meet with the other world leaders today?"

Cassiel nodded.

"Very well. That meeting begins in three hours, but Lord Ozpin wishes to see you before then. In private."

Cassiel revealed nothing through his posture but he was quite surprised the eccentric man wished to meet him alone. He was also surprised at the 'lord' title but before he could ask, Ruby asked for him.

"Lord? Did the Professor get a promotion?" She joked.

Glynda, however, stayed straightfaced.

"Yes, actually. Until the line of succession is restored, Professor Ozpin is the highest ranking person in Vale with any power and as such, he leads the kingdom until the matter is resolved."

Ruby looked meek. "Oh..."

Cassiel took this moment to take control of the situation. "And what might this Lord Ozpin want away from the eyes of the other kingdoms?"

 _Theoretical: He has something to hide._

 _Practical: He wishes to use me and my Space Marines to achieve his goals._

Goodwitch stares at him cooly, no emotion betraying her thoughts. "To explain to you the gravity of our situation."

He nodded. He didn't trust her in the slightest and sent a coded message to his fast reaction force to be on high alert in case anything went awry.

"Very well. Lead the way Miss Goodwitch. Ruby, I will be indisposed for some time."

She looked like she was going to protest but thought better of it and nodded.

Cassiel followed Goodwitch through Beacon, the familiar corridors seemed different without Grimm and corpses lying about. It seemed brighter. More of an institute of learning than a charnel house.

They finally came to a partially complete office and stopped before the large wooden doors.

"Weapons please."

Had his facial features been visible, his incredulous look would have almost been considered offensive.

"No."

Finally, a little bit of emotion plagued her features. Irritation.

"Please, we have a str-"

"You do. I don't. No."

She sighed. "Very well. I suppose we can make an exception."

"Good. Shall we?"

She opened the door and in the middle of the room was a table with a silver haired man with glasses sitting at the head. In one of the other chairs sat a man with a large amount of scruff and Cassiel was fairly sure he could smell alcohol on the man's breath from across the room and through his suit's scrubbers. And in another sat a man clearly of military bearing, his close cropped hair and ramrod straight stature the most obvious signs.

Glynda took another chair, leaving two open.

The man with glasses spoke.

"Please. Have a seat, we have much to discuss."

Cassiel looked at the small wooden chair. It seemed well made and somewhat expensive if somewhat plain.

"I would likely break that."

The man smiled and nodded. "Very well. Welcome, I am... Lord Ozpin. And I believe you are Captain Cassiel."

Cassiel nodded and rested his right hand on the pommel of his sword.

"How may I help you today Lord Ozpin? I trust the recovery efforts are proceeding smoothly?"

Ozpin nodded.

"Now let's get down to business. I'm sure you're quite aware than this is no courtesy meeting."

Cassiel nodded.

"One doesn't live two hundred and fifty years by not using their Emperor given brain."

Eyebrows shot up at that.

To give credit to Ozpin, he didn't seemed too phased by that revelation.

"For starters, I would like to extend condolences for your lost subordinate. His sacrifice is a model to us all."

Cassiel nodded. "Firstly, he is not a subordinate. We are like brothers. Secondly, he still lives, but I appreciate the sentiment. He is a brave warrior."

Again, eyebrows shot up. His wounds were quite grevious, even for an Astartes, and for him to still live would be nearly godlike to mortals.

"Now. I believe you had something to tell me." Cassiel stated cooly, his pict and video recorders already recording. He had no reason to distrust them, but he had no reason to trust them either. It wasn't out of malice but he was entrusted to the lives of 150 battle brothers of his own and of the 4th company and he would rather be damned for all eternity than let them die in vain.

"Yes we... I do." Ozpin said grimly. And so he explained the dark past of Remnant. The Grimm, the Great War, and Salem. He even touched on the relics and the maidens though Cassiel suspected he was hiding much.

"And that is the gist of it. So I must ask, Captain. Will you help us?" Ozpin asked.

Cassiel was prepared to answer when the military officer, General Ironwood, finally spoke up. The man was clearly irritated.

"Absolutely not Ozpin! We don't even know who these people are! Or why they're here! For all we know, they could be here solely to enslave us all!"

Cassiel turned to the man.

"You are General Ironwood, correct?"

"Yes." Said the man curtly.

"Then you would do will do know 'General' that your choices during the events six months ago would have personally gotten you shot by me had you been under my command. Your tactical placement and over reliance on those... androids got hundreds killed for no reason. You even got thrown off your own ship. The sheer incompetence and arrogance you showed nearly damned this entire city to an ugly death. Had myself and my Space Marines not arrived when we had, the death toll would have been much, much higher and the city would have been lost. Your objections mean nothing to me and until you redeem your gross miscalculation _you_ mean nothing to me. As for your proposition, Lord, I would have purged this filth from your planet whether you asked or not. Now, I believe we have nothing more to discuss. Unless any of you have something more to add?"

The room was silent. You could almost cut the tension with a dull knife. It was clear the General hadn't gotten dressed down like that in quite a while. He was almost trembling with barely contained anger but said nothing.

 _At least his military bearing is well ingrained._

Cassiel turned and left without another word. He admitted that this may not have been the most diplomatic way to solve the issue, but he didn't rightly care.

He made his was back to the courtyard and saw the Ruby wasn't here. He assumed she must be off visiting classmates so he decided to wander the grounds. There was still much he didn't know about about this planet and it's peoples. And much like his Primarch, Cassiel had a hunger for knowledge about peoples, places, and cultures. And so he wandered in silence until the meeting came. He went and learned what he needed to learn.

Vale and Vacuo had taken to the space marines quite well. Whenever a horde of Grimm were discovered, the Ultramarines fell upon them like a thunderbolt and left nothing but empty shell casings and dissolving corpses in their wake. Mistral and Atlas, however, were more mistrustful. Likely due to the fact that the status quo was being upended as it was. There was no word from Menagerie, the abhuman kingdom, thus far but Cassiel suspected that wasn't due to their own voice.

At the end of the meeting, Cassiel walked back outside. The sun was setting now and Cassiel found the sight fairly relaxing. He finally removed his helmet and maglocked it to his side and took a deep breath of the clean air, his three lungs filling with the crisp autumn air. He heard footsteps, small and timid behind him and turned to greet whoever it was.

Who he saw was young girl, barely coming up to his hips with a pair of rabbit ears on her head. She seemed to be trembling under his gaze but she had something she wished to say.

"Greetings." Cassiel said while taking a knee so he was closer to her height. The abruptness making her jump.

"H-hello. My n-name is Velvet." She said softly before taking a deep breath and shoving a card into his chest. "W-we just wanted to wish your friend well. We hope he recovers soon. We... I saw what he did. That village had a lot of Faunus in it. And he saved them while almost dying... so... thank you." Her face was flushed with embarrassment as Cassiel took the card.

It said 'Get Well Soon' on the outside and on the inside was several dozen signatures, at least 36.

Cassiel smiled and thanked her before putting it in one of the pouches on his belt.

"I shall ensure he gets this. He will appreciate this gesture." She bowed and hurried away.

 _Mortals._ He thought fondly. _I will never understand them. They never cease to amaze and confuse me._

He stood to hear Ruby calling to him. And standing with her... was the alcohol smelling man from earlier.

"It never ends does it?" He said sourly and made his way to the pair.

"Hey Cassiel! Have you met my Uncle Qrow!?"

"We are... somewhat aquainted." He allowed.

The man seemed unimpressed by the Astartes in front of him, which was quite impressive all things considered. Even hardened veterans of the Imperial Guard seemed to cow when under the gaze of a member of the Adeptus Astartes, but this man seemed more cautious than anything. If transhuman dread had an effect on him then he wasn't showing it. The man had seen much in his life.

"Greetings, Qrow." Cassiel said finally.

Qrow looked him up and down before speaking. "Hey, I heard Ruby and Yang were gonna be traveling with ya. Who gave ya permission to order 'em around?"

 _Ah. He isn't mad about my dressing down. He is simply worried about his family._

"I assure you, if they travel with me, it is purely their choice. Do not worry, they are not in a combat capacity. They're more of a cultural advisor. I wish to learn of this planet's peoples and cultures so we may better negotiate with you."

The man squinted and took a swig from his flask before continuing.

"And how can you guarantee their safety?"

"They will be under the personal protection of my honor guard and myself. Not to mention the 150 others like me who were born and bred to smite the enemies of man."

The man nodded but still looked suspicious.

He took another swig of his flask before stuffing it in his pocket.

"Alright. I'll keep my eye on you though." He said with arms crossed.

"Okayokayokay! Stop it both of you! Please?" Ruby finally said. She clearly could sense the tension between the two. As could some of the other students, who had started to gather to see what a fully fledged Huntsmen wanted with one of the giant blue warriors.

Cassiel decided to extend an olive branch.

"Qrow. I swear to you on my home world of Calth and my oath as a Space Marine that no harm shall befall them as long as I still draw breath."

Cassiel extended his hand, while he wasn't completely sure about most mortal customs but he had observed them shaking hands when reaching agreements. Surprisingly, Qrow accepted albeit awkwardly. He was somewhat thrown off by Cassiel's earnest oath.

Truthfully, he'd wanted to spook the tall knight if at all possible and he really hadn't expected an oath sworn on seemingly everything the Ultramarine stood for.

They awkwardly shook hands and Qrow huffed seemingly in satisfaction before turning to Ruby. "Alright then kiddo. If you need anything just call my scroll okay?"

He turned to Cassiel and looked up into the Space Marines eyes.

"You better not go back on your word."

Cassiel's face never moved. "I shall not. It is an oath."


	5. Ch 5: Courage and Honour

Cassiel and Ruby has been in Vale for roughly a week. In this time, Cassiel had taken in an obscene amount of knowledge about Remnant and its people. He had his Primarch to thank for this particular quirk since Lord Commander Guilliman was well known for his thirst for knowledge and history. He had learned of local legends, stories, and actual events through historical texts. He was particularly fascinated with the last King of Vale and his near inhuman abilities. Many people wrote it off to environmental conditions, but Cassiel had seen many, many years and had seen the ground boil, the sky rain blood, and the winds carry the screams of the damned.

Those were questions for another day, however, because Cassiel had other things to ponder over. Like how quickly Ruby had learned Regicide and had nearly beaten him in their current game while Yang, Blake, and Weiss eagerly watched from the sides of the table they were using.

"Come on Cassiel give up! There's no way you can win!"

Cassiel gazed at the pieces and smirked before moving the piece he had been saving in reserve to the point where it would win him the game.

"I believe that is checkmate."

The smug look of victory quickly melted into a pout of disbelief as the group gasped.

"What!? How!?" But Ruby saw what had happened and groaned before consenting the loss.

Cassiel packed the pieces back with care, still smirking, and patted Ruby on the shoulder.

"You did well, however, you need to learn about feints and how to use them."

"Okaaaaaay..."

He laughed again. These mortals could truly be entertaining. Now he knows why Markus preferred their company some days. His brothers had a bond that could never be broken and he would die for any one of them, but these mortals were... fun so to speak.

He clasped the case shut and ran his augmetic fingers over the symbols of the Ultima and the wings and sword of the Dark Angels. The set had been a gift from a brother hailing from the Dark Angels during his time in the Indomitus Crusade. The two had become fast friends and had saved one another numerous times until the Crusade had finished and both went to their respective parent chapters. Cassiel had given the Dark Angel a hand tooled leather holster made of exquisitely fine leather and custom fitted to the Dark Angel's bolt pistol.

It was times like these that the sentimentality characteristic of the Ultramarines was more of a curse than a blessing.

"Cassiel?" Ruby asked, noticing how quiet he was.

"Oh, my apologies Ruby. I was merely remembering an old friend. He gifted me this set at the end of the last campaign we had together as a sign of our friendship." He placed the box back in its storage container and walked it back to his room in the Ultramarines barracks on Beacon's campus grounds.

When he returned he saw Ruby twiddling her thumbs as she glanced at his arm.

"Is something troubling you?" He asked.

"Do you... mind to tell me what happened to your arm?" She asked after a long silence and pointed to the mechanical limb.

He held that heavy apparatus up and flexed his fingers.

"I suppose not. I warn you though, all of you, it's not a pretty story. At all." He said grimly. He knew they was more mature than they acted but he still stressed honesty.

"That's okay." Ruby said earnestly along with nods from the other three.

"Very well. Gather around."

 _Ten Years Ago_

Captain Cassiel flexed his left hand and checked his wargear for faults. His MKX armor gave him the all green and he turned in the troop compartment of the Repulsor grav tank _Veridian._ In the tank with him was 5 Intercessors of Third Squad and 5 Hellblasters of 8th Squad. They'd been charged with the elimination of an enemy commander near the capital city of the planet, Konor. Well... what was left of it anyways. The planet had been nearly completely engulfed by the fetid tide of Nurgle's ilk. The only thing stopping it from becoming a fully fledged daemon world was massive sacrifice on both his Space Marines and the soldiers of the Imperial Guard.

They had been set upon since their landings by everything from flies the size of a canine, carnivorous plant life, and toxic bogs. However, though their losses were grim they could not retreat. This was not only an important agriworld for Ultramar but it also bore the name of the Lord Guilliman's father and Cassiel and every other Ultramarine on the planet would be thrice damned before letting this planet fall to incurable corruption.

"Target zone approaching Brother-Captain. Prepare to disembark."

"Affirmative Brother. Let your aim be true and your armor strong. Courage and Honor."

The tech marine returned the mantra.

Cassiel drew his plasma pistol and powered up the powerfist. Their objective was to destroy the ritual site in the desecrated church in the middle of the city. The Plague Marines of the Death Guard had used it as their base of operations and sacrificial area for their foul rituals.

This could not continue.

The grav tank stopped and Cassiel heard its Heavy onslaught, and onslaught Gatling cannons begin tearing into whatever blighted spawn of Nurgle were under their guns.

The ramp dropped and Cassiel and his Space Marines were out on a flash. The same scene being reported up and down the armored convoy with Rhinos and Razorbacks disgorging his Old Breed brethren while Repulsors loosed the Primaris Space Marines.

The scene outside was utter chaos. Daemon engines trudged backwards up the streets being chased with tank cannon blasts from the convoy's Predators and missile shots from several Devastators. Many went up in flames as heir damned armor was penetrated by rockets and lascannon blasts. A Defiler was blasted in half with the force of multiple direct hits from an Astreus's macro accelerator cannons as the massive grav tank floated in the middle of the column.

"Fifth Company! You know our objective! Let us burn their diseased carcasses from our planet! Forward! WE MARCH FOR MACCRAGE!"

And the space marines advanced, street by street, supported by Inceptor squads that bounded from building to building and by the tank column that went up the main highway to the heart of the city.

The Ultramarines were not without losses, however, the tank column suffered numerous ambushes and lost some of their Rhinos and Razorbacks to lucky rocket strikes. The Space Marines themselves suffered similarly with traps and virus bombs that are through flesh and bone in seconds claiming the lives of more than a few Battle Brothers. But they pushed forwards. Never allowing the enemy a chance to regroup or a moment of respite.

Cassiel approached the church with those of his company that made it this far, his stained cape flapping wetly as a cold wind blew through the empty area before the church entrance. There was undoubtedly a ritual being conducted inside.

They had to hurry.

"First, second, and fourth squads establish a cordons. Aggressor Squad Hera, your up. Show these curs what it means to remain loyal."

The 3 Aggressors trudged up to the door. Each one was armed with flamestorm gauntlets, on eacharm was an extremely potent flamer at their beck and call.

They drew back, powerfists crackling with energy, and knocked the heavy door down. They didn't miss a beat and their flamers flooded the inside of the church in promethium. He heard the groans of the hundreds of poxwalkers that had been herded inside to to leave a nasty surprise for any Imperial forces that tried to capture the building.

They didn't stand up to the streams of promethium, however, and soon everything that was flammable in the main hall of the church was burned to ash. Cassiel and his Intercessors breached shortly after and cringed when they saw the scenes before them.

Not only were the charred corpses of poxwalkers still popping and sizzling grotesque but there were clearly signs of human sacrifice.

Flags made of diseased human skin, pustules still somehow growing and festering, cauldrons of foul concoctions with faces still somehow screaming inside them, and piles of fetid corpses with hearts cut out and intestines unceremoniously stuffed into barrels for further use.

"By the Five Hundred Worlds..." one of the Intercessors, a newly minted battle-brother, commented in disgust.

Cassiel grabbed his shoulder reassuringly with his powerfisted hand.

"Stand firm brother. We are here to stop this."

The young space marine nodded.

And then his head exploded. Outside, the tanks started firing again.

"AMBUSH!"

The Space Marines rushed for cover as the Plague marines burst forth from behind a warp conjured barrier that hid them from augers and auspex scanners.

In the middle of the group was a Plague Lord in ancient thrice damned Cataphractii plate, wielding a large scythe.

"KILL THEM! FOR FATHER NURGLE!" He wheezed as the Plague Marines lumbered forwards.

Cassiel put a plasma bolt into the face of two Plague Marines as he stood.

"CHARGE THEM BROTHERS! KILL THEIR LEADER AND THIS IS DONE! FOR ULTRAMAR! FOR GUILLIMAN! FOR THE EMPEROR!"

The Ultramarines rushes forwards, bolt rifles banging, Cassiel in front of them all sending searing blasts of plasma with pinpoint accuracy. They met in the middle of the room with a crash of ceramite as combat knives were drawn and bolter buttstrokes connected with face plates.

Cassiel made a beeline for the Plague Lord, blasting away the traitors in his way with either plasma blasts or crushing them with his powerfist.

"Let him through my brothers! I shall crush the False Emperor's little lapdog... personally."

"You shall only die traitor!" Cassiel bellowed as their opening blows met.

Cassiel deflected the whirring blades of the scythe with his powerfist and shot the traitor in the chest with his plasma pistol.

The traitor growled in pain and backed away as the plasma melted through the ancient terminator plate. Cassiel charged in again, powerfist crackling with energy as he went for a straight punch to the traitor's helmeted head. The Plague Lord moved with inhuman speed and tried to swipe for Cassiel's midsection.

Cassiel used his momentum to roll out of the way, and he loosed another shot of searing plasma into the partially melted plate in the traitor's chest.

He growled and used the pommel of his scythe to knock the pistol out of his hand.

"That... was annoying Guilliman's little curr." He wheezed.

Cassiel grunted and pulled his combat knife in a reverse grip from his belt.

"Then I need to try harder. DIE TRAITOR!"

They rushed again and Cassiel parried the scythe with his knife before drawing back and punching the head of the scythe.

The scythe's head exploded with a screech as the energies inside were released back into the warp. The Plague Lord roared in anger and drew his own knife.

Cassiel couldn't react in time and he felt the fetid blade plunge into his forearm. He yelled in agony as the blade sunk into his flesh.

He felt the poisons enter his bloodstream and recoiled several feet away, and could feel the flesh in his left arm boil and knew he had to act fast.

He dropped his knife as the Plague Lord gloated about victory.

He grabbed his arm just below the elbow with the powerfist and gritted his teach as he crushed, then ripped the arm off at the elbow.

Adrenaline spiked and the Belisarian Furnace in his brain kicked into overdrive. He moved at a dead sprint and threw his own severed arm into the face plate of the Plague Lord.

"YOU WILL DIE TRAITOR!!"

He drew back and punched through the traitor's weakened chest plate and grasped both of its rotted hearts before withdrawing and crushing them before the Lord's own eyes and bringing him to his knees.

"If... you wanted blood... traitor... then take as much of mine... as you like." Cassiel said through labored breaths.

He pulled the helmet off the Lord's face with the sickening sound of skin ripping as those fleshy bits that had fused with his helmet were pulled free.

Cassiel picked up his own arm and then shoved it through the skull of the Plague Lord, killing the traitor instantly.

Cassiel looked around and saw his Space Marines cleaning up the remnants of the Plague Marines in the church. Clearly the bastards thought that surprise would be enough.

And as one of the Aggressors crushed the head of a wounded Plague Marine with the heel of his armored boot, it clearly wasn't enough.

"Apothecary! The Brother-Captain is wounded!" One of the Hellblasters called.

"I am fine... what is the situation?"

 _Present Day_

Cassiel finished the story by telling them the planet was eventually saved.

He hadn't noticed the small crowd that had gathered around him. He'd noticed a few familiar faces such as the young rabbit earned girl and what he assumed was her team, team JNPR, and several older students. He even believed he even saw Goodwitch at the edges of the crowd.

Team RWBY looked slightly paler than before.

"That was..." Began Yang.

"A lot." Finished Ruby, the disbelief in her eyes.

"That was among the last battles of the Plague Wars. It was a... difficult campaign to be sure. There was much lost across all of Ultramar."

He heard some muttering across the crowd and even a few worried looks.

Fear.

Something he could not feel but something he could quantify and understand.

"However, Huntsmen and Huntresses, do not let fear overtake you. Humanity still burns brightly across the stars in defiance and it is because of brave men and women. Brave warriors such as yourselves stand between their loved ones and the forces that would seek to lay humanity low across the stars. For ten thousand years we have endured. For ten thousand years we have fought back the tides. You are members of a long line of heroes such as Lord Castellen Creed, Ollanius Pious, and even Roboute Guilliman himself. He sees the very best you have to offer and he has fought and bled to preserve your spark. And I am inclined to agree. In you I see the best qualities of humanity."

He looked to Yang. "Strength."

Then to Weiss. "Defiance."

Then Blake. "Courage."

And finally Ruby. "Hope."

"As long as you keep these virtues close, no enemy will conquer you. And should you need aid, the Emeperor of Mankind's own Angels of Death shall stand with you. This I promise you."

He looked and saw several of the students started standing taller. Not fear in their eyes this time, but defiance, pride, and a fierce determination. Team RWBY and the crowd scattered afterwards, talking elatedly about how incredible his story was. A few meters away, Chaplain Bariel had heard the whole story and the speech afterwards and though his skull faced mask covered his face, the Chaplain was smirking.

"Brother-Captain are you not sure you weren't a Chaplain in a previous existence?"

Cassiel turned to him.

"Ah... you heard that did you?"

"Aye I did. I believe even Cassius would have been impressed."

"Is that so, Brother?" Cassiel asked with no small amount of amusement in his voice.

In orbit, Markus was meditating inside his coffin. He had... somewhat come to terms with his predicament. Though he was glad the tech priests had left him alone, at Polaris's... gentle behest.

The threat with a bolt pistol helped, he had to admit.

His systems were fully functional now and his coffin had been implanted into the mighty Redemptor Dreadnought chassis, though he still remained stationary for the time being. He had much to think on and had spent many days contemplating his future.

"...sssssssssshhaaaa..."

Markus's eyebrows would've shot up had he the ability to do so. Were his systems acting up again?

"Saaa...ssshhhhh."

His self diagnostic began to run and it discovered an anomaly.

"Salutations!" Said the other entity that was evidently within his systems. Markus quickly quarantined the entity and put up several firewalls and codes.

"Who are you?" Markus asked in code to the entity.

"Oof... erm... wow it's cramped with those firewalls. Hello! My name is Penny! Penny Polendina!"

Markus was moments from alerting Polaris to come to him immediately to purge his systems of this... thing.

"Wait please! Don't... I'm... sorry for intruding... I had nowhere else to go you see... I... well I died... at the Vytal Festival. I had nowhere else to go but your armor had enough computational power to house me... in a dormant state... I didn't want to die..."

Markus closed the link.

"And why should I trust you? You are an abom... an AI are you not?"

"Well... I can't really answer that... I guess that's up to you. If it helps, I was able to produce aura... and I had a semblance."

Markus was quiet for a long time. Well, several seconds is a long time for two beings in a single hardware connection. Markus had learned that those with aura had a soul.

And this was quite curious for him even though he was sure that the fact she existed was heresy to the tech adepts. Though he didn't put much stock in those fanatics' beliefs.

Personally, he thought they were rather odd.

On the other hand, he saw... a kindred spirit in this diminuative AI.

They were both physically dead, and they both inhabited a walking coffin.

"...very well. I am Markus. Formerly a Lieutenant of the Ultramarines 4th company."

"Hello Markus! Can... can you lower some of the firewalls? So I can make sure all of 'me' made it?"

Markus was still highly suspicious... but he relented slightly.

He vaguely recalled Ruby mentioning a friend by her name.

"Are you aware of one named Ruby Rose?"

He was fairly sure he felt the mechanical equivalent of elation.

"Yes!!! She is my best friend!!! You know her as well??"

He'd have laughed in code if he could.

"Yes. She is a... friend."

He opened some more processing power for the AI and he could feel her come to her full potential. Then she was alarmed.

"Markus!? Are you okay???"

He was puzzled. He 'felt' fine. His servos and reactor were all running at peak efficiency.

"No! Not your body! There's far too much of a strain on your mind!"

He had no ability to check on his own vitals. So he had a choice to make.

Does he trust the AI? Or does he quarantine her again?

"Please. Let me help." She pleaded.

Markus thought.

 _Theoretical: She is telling the truth._

 _Practical: I will eventually lose my mind._

Then he thought again.

 _Theoretical: She is lying._

 _Practical: She wants to take over my Dreadnought._

Again.

 _Theoretical: The Redemptor chassis has been rumored to be extraordinarily harsh on its occupants._

 _Practical: I will lose my mind and die._

He reasoned until he reached a solid practical.

"Very well." Markus began in code to Penny.

"But... if I sense an ounce of treachery, I will self destruct the chassis."

Penny 'nodded'.

And he let her take on some of the load.

And for the first time in weeks, his mind felt... unburdened.

He could think clearly and not in a haze. He felt like himself again.

"Better?" She asked.

He was stunned.

 _Were the Techpriests aware of what they were doing to his brothers?_

 _Theoretical: They are._

 _Practical: They don't care._

No matter. He would solve this later.

"I... thank you. Yes. I am much better now. It seems I owe you my life. You may reside in my chassis as long as you need to. You may need to hide from the tech adepts. They are... strange. They will purge you on sight if you are discovered."

Penny understood. She didn't like it, but she understood.

Markus was suddenly glad he wasn't alone in this coffin.


	6. Ch 6 The Fires of Purity

Hidden far away from the prying eyes of the Kingdoms and of the Ultramarine flotilla in orbit, Salem paced the meeting room.

She was quite unhappy. In fact she would dare to call herself vexed. These new intruders had shattered Cinder's plan to destroy Beacon, cripple Vale, and kill that damned Ozpin.

They'd done a number on her subordinate as well.

 _Just who were these visitors?_

It wasn't every day that one could go toe to toe with a Maiden and survive, let alone fight her as a near equal. And the way they cut through her Grimm, the White Fang, and the Atlesian Knights was... concerning.

Even the Paladins stood little chance. By the reports of Cinder and her lackeys, they had weapons that could blast a Paladin into molten slag, turn an Beowolf inside out, and they could even match an Ursa in a contest of strength.

An Ursa!

That in and of itself was concerning.

So she decided to go all out and had planned for six whole months for this plan to be enacted. She'd made thousands of Grimm, sent spies, and had even whipped the White Fang to a rabid fury.

Now all the pieces were in place.

She smiled.

"Today. Vale will burn. Tyrian, are you in position?"

The Seer floated in front of Tyrian and he grinned with anticipation. He was craving blood, suffering, or anything else he could gain by inflicting as much pain as he could. He laughed.

"Yes. I will kill this newcomer... for you."

"Good. Good. Ensure that you do."

Tyrian smiled and looked at his target on the scroll in his hand.

Chaplain Bariel was making his rounds around the campus again. He knew that work was proceeding at a good pace and there was little reason for him to be seen inspecting the work, but to be honest he was dreadfully bored. Many of the mortals avoided him due to his menacing appearance much to his annoyance and many of his Brothers were in high spirits after their recent successes. So in lieu of counseling and guiding his space marines and meditating, the old Chaplain had begun walking around the campus. Though he still lamented the state of their respective forces. Many of the space marines were new, barely out of the scout company, but the Plague Wars had been unkind to the 5th and the 4th had lost its last line leader in this field. Of course Captain Ventris was dependable but he'd taken the rest of his company on another mission at the Primarch's behest.

He rounded the corner and saw one of the members of Team RWBY, Weiss watching out over the city.

She seemed deep in thought, and not the good kind of her facial features curled into a scowl.

"Greetings Huntress," He said, his raspy voice sounding somewhat harsher than intended through his vox amplifier. "You seem troubled. Is there a problem that needs addressed?"

She jumped, evidently too deep in thought to have noticed him walking up.

"Gah! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She said.

"Hmph, I am many things Huntress Weiss and subtle is not one of them. However, that does not answer my question."

She sighed.

"It's nothing."

"Liar. I may wear all black but I am not dim witted Huntress."

She glared at the Chaplain and his expressionless mask betrayed nothing. "Come. Walk with me Huntress."

She started to protest but his long strides had already made a fair distance between them and she decided to follow until they came to what seemed like a small chapel.

It wasn't a permanent structure, just recently constructed from prebuilt hab sections brought from orbit and it only seemed like it could hold a handful of space marines at a time.

The Chaplain opened the doors and the smell of incense hit Weiss.

The Chaplain, still silent, walked to the head of the chapel and took a seat on an oversized chair.

Blake hesitated before he beckoned her over to sit on another chair, clearly not her size, but she sat.

The Chaplain disengaged his helmet and set it on his knee. His war scarred face and chillingly cold blue eyes struck her like a hammer and her eyes went wide.

The man's face was more scar tissue than actual face, with a particularly large scar running over the center of his face and what seemed like acid burns on his right cheek. She even saw steel plates on part of his skull. Where there wasn't battle damage, she saw old grey hair and a beard.

"By the gods..." Was all she managed.

The Chaplain chuckled. "The years haven't been kind to me have they?"

She was speechless for a moment, which didn't happen often, she admitted. This man was worse off than Ironwood.

"What...happened?" Was all she managed.

"I have many war stories to tell, but not at this moment. What troubles you Huntress? You have my oath that not a word of this will be spoken outside this room. It is my duty to ensure the mental and spiritual health of the warriors of humanity and to counsel them if needed."

She sighed. "Okay..." And her face went back to a scowl as she remembered the cause of her ire.

"Well... my father. He doesn't want me to become a Huntress. He says it'll hurt the family name and that it's too dangerous. I want to forge my own path as a Huntress but I don't want to drag the family name through the mud."

The Chaplain grunted. "I recall being in a similar situation as you in my youth. My family didn't want their sole heir to volunteer for the Adeptus Astartes."

"Wait... you weren't born like... that?" Weiss asked.

Bariel shook his head. "Every Space Marine you see is a man who has volunteered their lives to service. We are made, Huntress, much like you are. You weren't born able to craft constructs out of thin air were you?"

She shook her head. "No. It is taking a lot of practice."

"And you are practicing tirelessly?"

She nodded.

"And there lies the solution to your dilemma Huntress. Notice I said your true title, not 'in training', because that is merely a formality. You have taken the mantle of one of humanity's defenders and it is the most noble of causes. You must forge your own path and not doubt yourself. Your father's name may be on documents, but yours will be in legends."

Weiss was taken aback by the furvor in his voice. She'd never heard someone so... passionate about their craft. Well... he _was_ a chaplain. Whether that meant the same to the Ultramarines as it meant to some of the few monotheistic religions in Remnant was to be seen, be he was clearly a preacher.

"I... thank you." She finally managed. Truthfully she couldn't help but feel a bit more pride in what life she'd chosen.

Bariel seemed satisfied with that. "Remember Huntress. You are the only one who can forge your own path."

He got up to leave and replaced his helmet his scarred head being replaced by black and bone white.

Weiss left the chapel a short time later after examining some of the architecture and while the style left something to be desired in her eyes she could see some beauty in it.

As she stepped back into the cool autumn air, she nearly bumped into a space marine wearing exquisitely detailed armor carrying a huge sword and a smaller short sword and nothing else. His was strange considering the Ultramarines' apparent love of large guns. His armor seemed... older and he had a golden helm. Of a more ancient mark and the wearer seemed to have a swordsman's grace. Weiss noted that he was of the second kind of Space Marine. She noticed differences in height and armament from Cassiel's breed and Bariel's breed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me."

"Step aside child." He grunted as he stepped by her to enter the chapel.

 _How rude!_ She thought with some irritation as the doors closed.

She sighed and made for the training grounds. She would practice until she fell over if she had to.

Augustus was rather perturbed. The Chapter Champion of the Ultramarines wasn't an angry man naturally, in fact, he was rather reserved by most standards. But these past few months have left him frustrated at the lack of worthy opponents and trophies to mark his kills. These xenos beasts he slew were formidable but they were just that.

Beasts.

There was no honor in slaying them. Unlike the Swarmlords and Hive Tyrants he had laid low, these beasts couldn't think. They couldn't answer a challenge and they couldn't _give_ a challenge. All of this was infuriating.

"Brother Chaplain." He said gruffly.

"Ah! Honored Champion! What brings you here today?"

The Champion removed his golden helmet and maglocked it to his belt revealing an aged face. Not as beaten and brutalized as the Chaplain's, but worn with the scars of war all the same. He sported a white beard and a shaved head which allowed his four service studs, each representing a century of service, above his left brow to shine brilliantly in the low light of the chapel.

"Brother. I am troubled." He spoke in a gravelly voice. The Chaplain turned and strode to his brother.

"Speak then. I shall offer counsel."

Augustus pursed his lips. "Brother, what are we doing here? We should be finding a way out of this... null area in the warp. Back to Ultramar and back to the war. The Great Enemy advances everywhere and here we sit on some backwater world full of weaklings. What in the Five Hundred Worlds is the Captain thinking!? These... 'Primaris' Space Marines they no not what you and I have seen! Why is one in charge!?"

The Chaplain sighed. Augustus had always been hot blooded, which seemed to be a common mannerism with those from Talasar, but this time he could see why the old man was so up in arms. He spoke truth but Bariel thought he was being far too hasty.

"Peace brother. I hear your grievances and I agree... to a point brother."

Augustus was about to rise yet again and Bariel raised his hand.

"You are wrong about the peoples of this world being weak. Come. I will show you." And Bariel made for the door. Augustus huffed, replacing his helmet, and followed the Chaplain.

After several minutes of walking the pair came to the training grounds. There were several students practicing in the field. Some were working on flashy moves with a lot of flourishes and some were working on basics and others were openly sparring with each other.

Bariel immediately picked Weiss out.

She was currently in a secluded corner and almost seemed to be meditating with a rune a meter in front of her.

"Come Augustus." Bariel said and walked along the edge of the grounds. He ignored the stares their presence attracted.

"Huntress Weiss. I see our talk has emboldened you. I have have a favor to ask."

Weiss turned and frowned when she saw the rude space marine who had called her a child standing behind him.

"What do you need?"

"I need you to face my friend in a bout."

Both looked at the Chaplain incredulously.

"WHAT!?" Both said instantaneously.

The Chaplain looked at both. "Weiss, you need to be sorely tested or else you'll never reach your true potential. Augustus, you need to be humbled, lest you end up like Captain Sicarius."

Augustus bristled and Weiss scowled.

"Brother you would have me spar with this... child?"

"I am NOT a child!"

Bariel smirked behind his mask. Those who hailed from Tallasar were always easy to goad.

"Are you saying you reject the bout?"

Augustus stood still and Bariel could feel his cold stare.

"No."

Bariel looked to Weiss. "Do you accept the fight Weiss?"

Her own gaze was eerily similar to Augustus' own. She glared at Augustus, still bristling at being called a child. "Yes. Yes I do."

"Very well."

They made there way to the center field, it was larger than the rest and more suited to full contact sparring. Bariel stood near the center as both readied themselves. He noted that their prebattle rituals were similar. Stretching and warming up muscles, small prayers, among other things.

A small crowd was gathered now.

"The fight continues until one concedes or is unable to continue. No death is permitted."

Both nodded. Augustus drew a combat knife and Weiss drew her Rapier.

Bariel noted how... bored Augustus looked with his posture being as loose as it was and concluded he wasn't taking this seriously in the slightest.

Weiss, on the other hand was ready and focused, apprehension taking a back seat as adrenaline flooded her veins. Curiously, she didn't seem affected by transhuman dread, but this could be due to their normal quarry who were nearly equal to the servants of Chaos in their nature.

"Begin."

Weiss exploded forth, several runes propelling her forwards. Augustus went for a lazy block, but saw his feet wouldn't move. He looked and saw black runes under his feet. He barely had time to move when a blast of ice hit him with the force of a truck.

Augustus staggered, regaining his footing as Weiss closed in.

Her speed was impressive, he thought as he expertly parties and blocked every strike.

She jumped back, the cylinder on her Rapier turning, and when she landed she sent bolts of lightning at the Champion.

He dodged most but one hit his leg and caused the servos to overload and reboot.

 _Hmph... quick thinking, exploiting weaknesses. Not bad._

She charged again, taking advantage of the deadweight that was Augustus' left leg and went for many rapid fire strikes at his face and soft points near his joints.

One actually connected.

His leg servos reactivated and when she jumped back this time, he charged, drawing the blade at his hip and tossing the knife aside.

He didn't activate the power field, but it was still a masterful work of art. The golden hilt ending in the 'U' shape of the Ultima with almost five feet of master crafted adamantium.

He went for a strike, Weiss barely able to block it in time with aura and sword almost collapsing under the inhumanly strong blow.

She grunted and brought her aura to its full protective potential before the cylinder rotated again.

Augustus swung again, centuries of swordsmanship displaying themselves with every blow. Every stab, slice, or cut precisely placed.

 _Hm... she's faster than a baseline human. All of them are. Stronger too._

Weiss loosed a blast of fire directly into Augustus' ancient face plate, causing the display to flash white with interference.

When the display reset he saw Weiss was several meters away with a white rune in front of her. He rushed forwards but before he got there, he saw a giant sword spring into existence and come down at him.

He activated the sword's power field and went for a block, not having enough time to dodge.

The blade came down and impacted the sword with enough force to drive Augustus to his knee. Weiss seemed shocked that Augustus was still in one piece, let alone still on his feet.

He fought against the downward force, pushing with all the might afforded to his physiology and wargear, before yelling and throwing the blade up.

He jumped back and saw what had struck him.

It was a giant knight from the legends of old Terra burnished in snow white steel plate and armed with a huge sword. It stood in a near perfect stance for a balanced approach to sword combat.

He laughed.

"Alright. I'll take you seriously then."

Bariel noticed the change immediately. Augustus drew his Champion's Blade, a power gladius, and held both his relic blade and gladius in a defensive stance. He wasn't loose anymore, he was tensed and ready, adrenaline flooding his own ancient veins.

The giant knight charged in concert with Weiss, the former going for a full frontal assault while Weiss went for any openings. But now there weren't any.

Every blow the Arma Gigas threw at Agustus was redirected or parried with disturbing ease with his larger sword, while all of Weiss' blows were blocked by the smaller gladius.

The Arma Gigas went for another devastating downward strike, but this time the Champion was ready.

He side stepped with speed that should've been impossible for his size and drove both blades into the face plate.

The apparition screamed and evaporated as it 'died' and Augustus threw the gladius at Weiss causing her to flinch as the blade hit with the force of a bullet and rebounded off her aura.

He looked up and saw the crackling relic blade right at her nose.

"I give up." She said, breathless.

Augustus exhaled and relaxed before deactivating and sheathing the relic blade. The crowd was silent, more in awe than anything, before they began to disperse while murmuring quietly.

Weiss tried to catch her breath and almost went to a knee, sweat forming at her brow. It had been quite a long time since she'd been pressed like that. And she'd even managed to fully summon the Arma Gigas! She couldn't help but grin, but the grin fell when Augustus collected his thrown blade and began walking towards her.

She flinched when he extended his right hand, the left resting on the pommel of the relic blade. "Well fought. I aknowledge your skill... as sloppy as it is." She went to shake his hand but he clasped her wrist in a warrior's handshake.

"We are not diplomats. We are warriors... Huntress. Now come, your form was atrocious and it bothers me. We shall fix this." He said as he drew the gladius.

Weiss looked at Bariel, who unbeknownst to her, was smirking. He always knew the Old Man wasn't as harsh as he let on. He was old and seasoned but he'd always made sure to look after younger warriors who wished to use the blade.

Bariel nodded. "It's not every day the Chapter Champion, the most seasoned and experienced single combatant in the Chapter short of Lord Calgar himself, offers to teach you swordsmanship."

She considered that for a moment before drawing Myrtenaster.

Bariel walked off as Augustus began teaching and passing on his centuries of knowledge to an increasingly large crowd. He chuckled as he heard Augustus curse in dismay at their 'abysmal swordsmanship' and that he would face their teachers in an honor duel for these transgressions.

He made his way back to the chapel and prepared for his evening prayers. But something wasn't quite right. His helmet auspex was picking up... something in the chapel with him.

Stalking him.

"Show yourself." He said, hand hovering over the grav pistol in its holster.

The intruder laughed manically, much like many a cultist to the Great Enemy. And swung from a support beam landing several feet in front of the Chaplain.

"Oooooh... I like your armor. Veeeery imposing." He grinned, a bit of madness showing in his eyes.

"Identify yourself. Now." Bariel growled, the grav pistol pointing at the intruder and his crozius primed.

"Ah. Well, you see I'm an exterminator of sorts and you and your kind have been quite the pest. This simply won't do. Not. At. All." The strange man grinned again.

Bariel squinted and fired the grav pistol, but the man had lept with preternatural speed and dodged the blast which left a crater in the floor.

He was on Bariel now, wrist mounted blades aiming for joints and other areas not covered by ceramite plate. He grunted as a blade found flesh in his armpit and swung the crackling crozius at the man.

The man rolled and the power weapon obliterated the pew he had been standing next to.

Before Bariel had time to recover, the man was on him again, attempting to stab his neck with his blades.

Bariel maglocked the pistol to his belt and grabbed the man's leg before hurling him into a wall.

The man bounced off of it with a sickening crack as the stone buckled under the force of the throw.

The Chaplain strode over to the probe man and raised his crozius, intending to break the man in half. But the man was much more resilient than he looked.

Just as Bariel was beginning to swing, the man rolled and loosed a burst of stub rounds into the skull faced mask, disorienting the mask's cogitator and flooding his vision with static and staggering the Space Marine.

Tyrian leapt at his quarry. These things were much tougher than they looked. And they even _looked_ tough. He was sure he'd cut an artery in the thing's armpit earlier, but it was still coming at him with the ferocity of an Ursa with the strength of one to boot.

This time he'd he sure to get the killing blow. He unraveled his scorpion tale and drove it into the side of the thing's neck with a sick grin on his face.

Bariel howled as he felt the poison enter his body. His Astartes physiology would be working in overtime to neutralize the venom, but he could already feel the debilitating effects take root in his nervous system.

His movements felt sluggish, almost as if he was in a haze.

But he still had the presence of mind to grab the abhuman's tail.

With all the strength afforded to him, he swung the abhuman into the wall by its tail. And again. And again.

He lifted the dazed man weakly and brought the crozius down upon the tail, severing it and causing the man to howl in pain and anger.

Bariel coughed some blood as the poison tried to battle his Astartes physiology. "You thought... you could take me? A Chaplain? Alone in close quarters? You shall die a fool."

His auspex beeped an alert and he whirled around and looked into a single amber eye.

He felt a white hot fist enter his chest cavity and grasp his primary heart before he could react. He reached for the arm to pull it out.

He saw the woman smirk before he was cooked alive in his own armor. The heat boiling his organs and evaporating his blood. He sent a single box message to Cassiel that contained his helmet footage before succumbing to the heat.

The black clad being fell with a resounding thud as the smell of burned meat filled the chapel. Cinder heard shouting outside and the heavy footfalls that were undoubtedly his comrades.

They would have to act fast.

"Let the attack begin. Tonight... Vale burns."


	7. Announcment

Sorry for the lack of update folks. Had work and life slam me but we good.

Anyways!

Who would be interested in short stories revolving around my Ultramarines 5th company (with Captain Cassiel of course), my Imperial Guard regimen (the Cadian 666th Mechanized Regiment), and my Deathwatch Watch Fortress?

These would be various battle reports of those armies in the games I play at the local FLG I play at.


	8. Ch 7: March For Your Home

The Second Battle of Vale started in the low evening light just as Weiss left the chapel. The guards along the wall, Ultramarine chapter serfs armed with hotshot lasguns and Vale Defense Forces, noticed the wood line was unusually dark even for this time of the year. And that it was moving.

"Uh... Alexius? Are the woods... moving to you?" One of the Vale troopers noted to his counterpart. 

The chapter serf, a failure of the Chapter initiation process by an injury, looked where the Valean was pointing and his eyes widened in alarm.

"RAISE CAPTAIN CASSIEL NOW!" He shouted to the vox operator as he raised his hellgun and fired the first of a great amount of ordinance into the horde that was rushing the walls.

Meanwhile, Cassiel was servicing his own arms and armors when the frantic vox traffic came through his own implanted vox bead. This was chased immediately by the _whizpop_ of las fire and the heavy banging of heavy bolters and heavy stubbers along with the peculiar bangs of the Vale defense forces stubbers. 

"Ultramarines prepare for battle. The city is under attack."

"Brother-Captain." He heard the gruff voice of Augustus over the vox. It wasn't often the old warrior communicated with him. This must be serious indeed.

"Yes honored champion? What is the situation?"

There was a few seconds of silence. "Brother Bariel is dead. Assassinated by the one who wounded you."

Cassiel stopped as a cold anger rushed over him. The old Chaplain had seen and done much in his long decades of service. He'd killed the Tyranid, executed the Traitor, and purged the Heretic from the worlds of man. But he'd also offered counsel to the troubled, hope to the hopeless, and courage to the afraid both mortal and Space Marine. He'd taken his duty as spiritual guide very seriously and turned none away no matter how frail or mighty they were. Many a cousin from other chapters had heeded his words of wisdom.

"Brother-Captain?" Augustus repeated. 

Cassiel inhaled, cooling his anger. It would do him no good now. "Acknowledged." 

He looked to the suit of Gravis plate in its mount and squinted. 

He would exact vengeance for the Chaplain. Personally.

 _In orbit_

Markus stirred from his meditation. Penny is idly humming some tune from Remnant and occupying herself reading several digitized texts stored in the ship's mainframes. The two had talked at length about their cultures' differences and similarities. He'd listened intently about the world's histories and cultures and how the Grimm were the only thing keeping humanity from reigning this world. The Grimm had forced the humans and Faunus to be hearty and resourceful much like how the Five Hundred Worlds bred a proud, industrious people. In return he'd told her about his own birthplace, Calth. He told her how the people of Calth adapted after the Horus Heresy to living underground when the surface became uninhabitable. She was saddened to hear how the people suffered during that trying time, but was much happier to hear that they endured that hardship. 

They were both taken aback when warning klaxons sounded throughout the ship. Something was happening either in the void or on the surface but either way the situation had to be dire for all three ships to be on alert if the vox traffic was any indication. 

Polaris entered the area where the dreadnoughts were kept along with two more of his brother techmarines.

"Markus, it will take some time to get the other two awakened." He began, referring to his brothers in the Casteferrum pattern dreadnoughts still slumbering. 

Markus began running diagnostics. "I am ready to serve." Was all he said. Polaris nodded and began outfitting his brother for war.

"STAND FIRM FOR THE EMPEROR! PUSH THIS FILTH FROM THESE WALLS BROTHERS!" Cassiel bellowed as he loosed another burst from his Gravis plate's boltstorm gauntlet. The Beowolf fell missing its head. 

He surveyed the battleground. All the automated guns were running hot and several were running low on ammunition while his space marines were putting up a wall of bolt shells and various other weapons. From bolter to melta and everything in between, the night sky was aflame with the sights and sounds of war. 

Another Goliath was charging the battered first gate. The first few had succumbed to the coherent light of lascannon devastator teams but now their weapons were cycling and venting heat lest they melt the barrels. He saw the gate wouldn't hold much longer however and they would be flanked and cut off if the gate fell.

"Next position!" He switched vox channels to the Thunderhawks that had been launched. "Brothers we need another pass." 

"Acknowledged Brother-Captain. Be advised, Nevermore concentration increasing. Large ones too."

Cassiel swore. "Very well. Retreat at your discretion. Out."

His marines had moved with speed and precision. They'd told the mortals to set up their defenses mostly on the second line. The marines would buy time until the last obstacle between the Grimm and the people of Vale could be properly manned. It would have to do for now. 

The Thunderhawks flew in with their Storm Talon escorts at only a handful of meters above the trees and let their turbo lasers and various other weapons fly. Missiles impacted and tore huge gouges into the horde while the lasers obliterated the large Grimm into nothing more than red mist. 

"That was our last pass brother. We are being pursued. It will take some time to clear the air." The techmarine reported.

"That is enough brother. We have made it to the second defensive line. Clear the skies and do not sell your lives without care. Courage and Honour."

The techmarine returned the sentiment and banked towards low atmosphere. 

Cassiel watched as his brothers flew away and the Stormhawks took their place using their cannons and anti air missiles to smack Nevermores and Griffons from the air in droves along with the help of the recently arrived Stalkers and Hunters. But there seemed to be no damned end to them. It was like fighting Orks or Tyranids. 

The last of his Space Marines reached the second wall and he was just behind them watching for the inevitable breach of the first wall.

"Close the gate!" He bellowed. But nothing happened. The gate didn't close. Then there was an explosion. 

He cursed loudly as one of the Tactical marines informed him that it was the work of sabotage. 

_Damn that amber eyed witch._

"Very well. Ultramarines!" He voxed. His voice carrying through his vox speakers and through the vox caster in his helmet. "We stand here!"

There was a loud roar as a Goliath finally toppled the gate and dozens and then hundreds of Grimm burst through.

Cassiel drew his power sword as his command squad closed around him. Augustus swaggered up with the Company Champion, Tiberius, just behind him. The Company Ancient, Quintus, planted the banner of the 5th. This would be the first time the peoples of Remnant had ever seen the battle standard of the 5th company. It was flapping in the wind as the double headed eagle of the flag seemed to stare down the horde of Grimm as if they were nothing more than prey. The final member was an extremely recent addition. He gave an air of uneasiness as the Primaris Librarian, Gallus, stepped forward with his force sword at the ready. To the seasoned veterans in the command squad he was barely more than a child at a mere 75 years old. He had only taken the Black Carapace a week after Cassiel had lost his arm. 

A squad of Reivers and assault marines, power knives and chainswords ready, took positions near their Captain at the open gate as the encroaching black wave advanced. And stopped just outside bolt rifle range. 

The area was silent except for the aerial combat raging above. Cassiel was confused. The baying horde looked... forced to stop.

"Stand ready brothers. Something doesn't feel right."

Something black and oily began to rise out of the ground just in front of the horde. Many of the Space Marines tensed, memories of Daemonic enemies flooding their minds. What materialized were 4 figures were standing, seemingly being ignored by the Grimm horde. The first one he saw was a large man, almost as large as him in Gravis plate, with his arms crossed. The other two were teenagers one with turquoise hair and the other with Snow White hair roughly the same age as those from Beacon, Cassiel's grip tightened on his sword when he saw Cinder at the middle of the group. 

She smirked. "Hello my strange new friends do you remember me?" She began. "I certainly remember you and how you ruined my plans. Well... some of them anyways. But I promise you that you'll pay for your interference right now along with the whole of Vale. You and the rest of humanity will tremble in fear at my new power."

Cassiel cocked an eyebrow. 

_Just how arrogant can one mortal be?_

The woman still looked arrogant and he couldn't wait to wipe that grin from her face. "Listen well for I will tell you once mortal. You know not with what you trifle but I intend to show you. Personally. I am Captain Cassiel of the Ultramarines 5th company. A son of Calth and a gene son to Roboute Guilliman and we, all of us, know no fear. Now burn with the rest of your traitorous filth."

She looked enraged by this. And conjured flames in her hands along with a resplendent golden bow. The others prepared, the larger man looking solemn while the younger two looked arrogant. 

He pressed the activation rune on his sword and boltstorm gauntlet with azure light leaping over both. Cassiel knew this battle was going to descend into a pitched melee battle with his 150 Space Marines against an army of thousands.

He'd faced worse odds. 

The horde began to advance again when several more returns showed up on his auspex returns. He looked around and saw several dozen Huntsmen and Huntresses had made it to the ramparts and among his Space Marines on the ground. To his left stood team RWBY, Qrow, and Goodwitch, and to his right stood team JNPR and team CFVY. All of them standing defiantly with their interstellar cousins.

"You all know this is a war, yes?" They all nodded with hot defiance in their eyes. 

"Very well. Steady yourselves warriors of humanity. And leave Cinder to me. Her head is mine." He said with a coldness that even shook Qrow. 

More marines streamed down to meet the horde at the gate and formed a phalanx of blue, bolters and bolt rifles leveled and ready. He looked and saw several of the mortals were shaking in fear. It wasn't out of any cowardice or lack of will but the sheer size of the horde was daunting. He inhaled.

"ULTRAMARINES AND HUNTSMEN! ALL OF YOU DEFENDERS OF HUMANITY LISTEN WELL! WE SHALL STOP THIS FILTH HERE! THERE SHALL BE BATTLE HYMNS WRITTEN ON THIS DAY! NOT ONE OF THESE BASTARDS WILL MAKE IT THROUGH! STAND FIRM MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! WE MARCH FOR MACRAGGE! WE MARCH FOR REMNANT!"

His Space Marines replied with loud replies of 'Courage and Honour' while the Huntsmen seemed steeled. Focused.

The black tide entered bolter range and the disciplined ranks of Space Marines opened fire with everything they possessed. Bolters, bolt rifles, and heavy bolters barely scratched the surface of the horde though. Each bolt shell spent seemed to be a cup of water thrown at a reactor fire on a starship. The huntsmen and normal human soldiers joined in now with their stubbers and mounted weapons. Bullets and heavy bolter shells began tearing large holes in the front ranks and grenades flew from bolt rifle mounted grenade launchers. 

Cassiel waved for both Aggressor squads to lumber forward as the enemy was now in range of their uniquely devastating weaponry.

All six raised their autoboltstorm gauntlets and let loose a hail of bolt shells and grenades that made the earlier volleys seem small in comparison. 

This blunted their charge and caused the horde to slow. 

He smiled and sent the detonation command to hundreds of planted explosives that ranged from clusters of grenades to melta bombs. Hundreds more exploded into atoms or charred meat as the explosions ripped through the lines.

 _Maybe the sons of Corax would be impressed._

Cassiel began running, the servos in his armor propelling him ever faster as he closed with the stunted horde.

"FORWARDS! CRUSH THEM BROTHERS! HUNTSMEN CLEAR THIS FILTH FROM YOUR WALLS! THIS IS YOUR PLANET! CLAIM IT!" 

With a roar the space marines lept from ramparts and charged, bolters still banging even as they advanced in a staggered line and cut the hated enemy to pieces in front of them. The Huntsmen rushed forwards and met the head of the charge almost at the same time as Cassiel and his group had.

Ruby was elated. Scared and concerned for Vale but elated. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins and she felt a strange calm come over her as she met the wall of Grimm with the Ultramarines. Her scythe cut and cut and cut while her teammates stuck to her like glue, working together and supporting one another. Weiss prepared a black rune and nodded to Ruby who grabbed Yang before she took off. 

She saw what the two had planned and nodded, smiling eagerly.

Weiss propelled them forwards and Ruby's semblance did the rest as they rushed forwards as a red and yellow blur. They stopped and landed among the group of Grimm that had tried to surround and engulf Cassiel and his command squad and slipped seamlessly into the line of battle.

The smaller Huntresses danced and weaved under Grimm that were swinging at the blue clad giants and punched, slashed, shot, burned, and broke them. Ruby moved with a swiftness even the Astartes admired and beheaded a Beowolf alpha that was swinging at Gallus. The Librarian turned and nodded to the Huntress and they went back to back.

"Hey I don't remember you. What's your name?" She asked between deep breaths while slicing a creeper in two. 

The Librarian blasted a nevermore into pieces and slashed another Beowolf almost in half. "Gallus. A member of the- GAH!" He cleaved a small Ursa in two. "A member of the librarius." He shot again. 

She actually snorted. "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of books?" She swung an other wide arc and reaped several Grimm like wheat. 

He huffed. "I shall show you." 

His eye lenses flowed from red to blue with barely contained energy. He pointed his opened hand at a group of Grimm preparing to surround team JNPR and lighting lept from his hand and turned the Grimm into charred corpses. 

He breathed deeply, thankful that the warp was so calm here before returning to the melee.

Ruby, for her part, had nothing to say for the first time in a long time.

Cassiel crushed another skull beneath his boot. He had to find Cinder and kill her. Fast. 

His Space Marines and the Huntsmen could hold for a while but it was a matter of time before numbers overwhelmed them. It was simple calculus. 

However, Cassiel had taken this into account as well. He'd known that there would be a large scale attack on Vale since he'd driven the devils from the gates last time and he'd planned for just this occasion. 

He just had to get them to commit fully. And for that he had to threaten their command. 

"ULTRAMARINES WITH ME! WE SHALL CARVE OUT THE FOUL HEART OF THIS HORDE! AGGRESSORS FORWARD!"

He took the point of the spear tip the aggressors made and they began punching and shooting and slashing their way through the horde at an accelerated rate, the banner of the 5th pushing ever closer to the center of the horde where Cinder stood. Many of the Huntsmen looked on in disbelief as the Space Marines began to up a tempo of slaughter that they themselves were just barely able to match. The whole time the Space Marines were yelling curses and battle hymns and prayers. These emboldened the Huntsmen and they themselves began yelling and shouting their own curses.

Augustus and Tiberius were just behind the Aggressors with their masterful strokes carving the Grimm to pieces like an expert butcher would carve a piece of meat. And when the Aggressors began to slow, they pushed ahead. 

If the rate at which the Aggressors was advancing was breakneck then when the two champions took the lead exceeded even that. They finally burst forth into the open area where Cinder and her band of traitors were and they didn't even break stride before they engaged her accomplices. The Aggressors spread out and began beating back the Grimm with bursts of bolt fire and grenade salvos and the Assault squad and an Inceptor squad landed and further blasted and chopped away at the black tide in order to give Cassiel time until the rest of the Ultramarine battle line cut their way to his position. 

The Champions and Ancient took after Cinder's companions while Cassiel, the Huntresses, and Gallus went after the witch herself. 

Cassiel hadn't felt this much hot anger in at least a decade. The thought of this opportunistic welp felling one of the most storied warriors in his company was almost too much to bear. 

He pointed the blade at her, without breaking stride. "You will die this day, witch. And may you choke on your own blood." She merely smirked, supremely confident in her ability to kill Astartes and motioned for him to attempt.

He charged, the Gravis plate weight almost nothing as he felt the power welling up inside him from Gallus' psychic enhancement. The sword came down with enough force to crack Leman Russ armor and though she blocked it with a barrier conjured from her Maiden powers and aura, she was forced to one knee with a look of shock. She reached deep and replied with explosive force, sending the blade and Cassiel back a step.

Her look of shock turned into a snarl as she rose and conjured her bow. "You'll pay for that." She muttered. 

Yang and Ruby took position at his side while Gallus stayed in the back, knowing his psychic prowess would be better served in a support role for his captain and his allies. 

"Huntresses. I'll keep her attention, look for openings." They nodded, staring down the one that had nearly destroyed their home. 

Cassiel charged again, taking Cinder off guard so she had to be forced back with vicious blows from his sword and boltstorm gauntlet's powerfist. Though his blows were hindered somewhat by the bulky armor, the added mass made each blow seem like a Custode was hammering into the the powerful barrier. Cinder struck back, her blows not enhanced by arcane sciences but by magics native to this world only. The blue paints of his armor sizzled and popped as the white hot flames inherent to the Fall Maiden missed him by centimeters.

Yang took this moment to strike, leading with her augmetic arm as Ruby released her from her own semblance, the added speed increased the power of her blow and she hit Cinder with power that rivaled Cassiel's. Cinder went flying and landed serveral feet away. Before Yang could celebrate, she was hit with a blast of fire that broke through her aura.

"YANG!" Ruby called as her older sister tumbled across the ground, coming to a rest near Mercury's prone form. The latter had been thoroughly beaten by Tiberius, who had let the teen live, if only because he was unworthy to stain Tiberius' blade with his blood. 

Ruby was livid as she turned to Cinder. Many of the Grimm nearby sensed this and their assault was redoubled, drawn the the young girl's anger like moths to a flame, but Ruby was far beyond controlling it. Cassiel attempted to stop her rushing forward but it was too late. Cinder has drawn her bow back and was seconds away from loosing an arrow into Ruby's heart when a bronze blur hit her with the force of a truck. 

The arrow flew and hit a Nevermore, engulfing it in flames, causing it to scream in agony as it fell to the ground. 

Cinder recovered and was looking into the fierce green eyes of Pyrrha Nikos. 

"Remember me?" Was all she said before bashing Cinder in the face with the edge of her shield causing the Maiden to yell in pain as the blow shattered her nose. 

Pyrrha backed off and made sure Ruby was back to her senses. It took a combination of a chastisement from Cassiel and Tiberius ensuring she still lived to calm her down enough to think properly. 

Cinder, for her part, was beginning to see how outnumbered she was. Emerald and Mercury had been beaten to bloody pulps with Mercury barely able to move. Hazel was holding his own for now but he was slowly being overwhelmed by the relentless assault by the gold helmeted Champion. She snarled in agitation as that damned fool in blue armor looked ready to charge again. She could hold her own against one of any of them but a three, about to be four on one would be too much. Even for her.

"Hazel. Retreat for now. We shall handle them... later. Our job is done." 

Hazel grunted in aknowledgement as he managed to fully disengage from Augustus. 

Before any of the space marines or Huntsmen could act, Hazel and Cinder were engulfed in a black, oily substance. 

Cassiel grunted in annoyance before pushing the disappointment from his mind. He had a city to save.

"Ultramarines, their leader has quit the field and support is on the way. Leave none standing. Courage and honor."

Several dozen meters away, Team CFVY and Tactical Squad Telemachus were hard pressed. They'd become separated from the main advanc after pushing too far ahead. Now they were a puddle of blue and brown in an ocean of black and read. 

Coco Adel was considerably unhappy with this situation as it had absolutely ruined her favorite jacket. She had no doubts that they would eventually escape, her being back to back with the space marine that wielded tactical squad's heavy bolter was enough to convince her due to the mass of bodies that had been built up between them. The line was pushing its way to them a little at a time but with the volume of Grimm, it was an uphill battle.

Suddenly the night sky was aflame as the boosters for several drop pods activated moments before they landed. Coco couldn't help but smile when she saw what stepped out when the doors dropped.

The first to be felled by its inhabitant was a rather large Death Stalker. The scorpion charged the pod the moment the doors dropped.

And it was cut to pieces as dozens of high caliber bullets tore it apart. It fell, half dead and weakly growled as a gigantic blue and gunmetal mechanical construct came over and crushed its head with his huge foot. The robot turned and unleashed its fire power upon the Grimm that had surrounded Team CFVY and Squad Telemachus 

The robot turned and the members of Team CFVY gasped when they saw the nameplate. Just beneath the two headed eagle on the front of the of the chassis, carefully scryed letters read 'Markus'. 

Markus mentally spit upon the Grimm while the many wounded beasts either succumbed to their partial dismemberment or were executed by Telemachus' squad. He lumbered over to the team of Huntsmen and Tactical marines and raised his fist to his 'chest' in a salute. 

"Greetings Sergeant Telemachus, Team CFVY. I am ready to wage war again." 

To the Space Marines, seeing a Redemptor Dreadnought was nothing really out of the ordinary. But to Team CFVY, seeing a 5 meter tall machine that moved with the grace of something half its size, it was breathtaking. And frankly, they were in awe if only for a moment. 

"Come." It said, snapping the Huntsmen from their daze. "I have sat immobile for too long. I wish to test these guns and crush this foe." 

It turned and began walking towards the disorganized and confused ocean of Grimm. Coco saw that similar, but smaller machines had also been deposited on to the battlefield. Their own chainguns and flamers spitting death at the horde. When the ever advancing line of space marines and their Dreadnoughts were joined by the Predators and Repulsors of Fire Base Ultima, the Grimm finally broke. 

And Cassiel's Space Marines chased them into the forest and slaughtered them to the last. Never before had the Valean citizens seen such merciless anger directed at the Grimm that they eventually retreated and were summarily butchered for their transgressions.

Many saw the Space Marines as heroes. Those who stood between the citizens of Vale and the monsters that had so desperately tried to obliterate them. But a few were disturbed by how merciless the Space Marines were. They saw what was done to the Grimm and wondered if their saviors would do that to more human enemies as well.


	9. Chapter8

Okay first of all I'm incredibly sorry that I've been silent for so long. Life happened (not in bad ways mind you) and I got really _really_ busy between work, military obligations, college, and all that fun stuff. This is no excuse but I feel I owed everyone who followed the story an explanation.

But with all that out of the way, let's see what our resident Space Marine Captain can get into shall we?

 _Outside the Main Defensive Gate_

Cassiel strode over the field to his command squad as his space marines mopped up what was left of the Grimm horde. The banner of the 5th hung loosely in the morning breeze, with its rich blues, golds, and whites untarnished by the heavy fighting of the night before. The MK X Gravis armor's servos whined as he walked to the grouping of Space Marine Officers who were conversing over a group of dissolving corpses.

 _At least the Grimm leave a mostly clean battlefield._

He noted the exhausted forms of Teams CFVY, JNPR, and RWBY leaning against one another, all but asleep from the battle the previous night and under the watchful eyes of Goodwitch and Qrow. They all stood nearby until a recovery team from Beacon could get them home.

"Brothers." He said gruffly. "What is the situation? How are the casualty figures?"

The Apothecary, Laius, turned and looked into his wrist mounted cogitator.

"The casualties we suffered were blessedly light. Two dead with their geneseed recovered. Five wounded with two heavily. All expected to make full recoveries. The normal soldiery lost close to three hundred. And the Huntsmen lost ten."

Cassiel nodded. The casualties were light all things considered. Had the horde broken through, the casualties would have been into the thousands.

Theoretically, he'd wished he could have done more.

Practically, he'd known he'd done all he could.

Cassiel looked at the battered forms of Emerald and Mercury at their feet, both with looks of dejection and defiance with a little fear in their gazes. "And what about these two? Will they cooperate?"

Augustus spoke now, ice in his voice. "They will have no choice. Either they will give us the information we need on who killed Bariel or they will be held personally accountable for his death."

The two's looks immediately melted into utter fear.

"Very well. Brother-Champion will you assist me in cleaning up? My line leaders have taken a blow."

Augustus nodded. "Very well Cassiel. It has been a score since I've led Space Marines into battle, but I would be honored to do so again."

Cassiel nodded his thanks and motioned for Gallus to follow him. The young Librarian followed behind his Captain as the echo of bolters and stub guns resounded off the walls and trees.

"So, Brother, what did you think of that...witch and her power?"

Gallus was quite young but a stalwart warrior and loyal to a fault, if a bit reckless in battle.

"She was... that was no warp based power." He said, curiosity and worry in his voice. He felt no fear over Cinder's powers, but that did not mean he didn't take them seriously.

"No it wasn't. Its curious. This whole system is curious. The warp is calmer here than anywhere we've seen, especially with the Cicatrix Maledictum shearing the Imperium in half. Yet the people here are... odd. They are human, but it's like a large majority of their warriors are Psykers."

The pair walked by a medic from the Valean Defense Forces treating a nasty wound on one of their fellows.

Gallus nodded. "It's quite strange brother-captain. It seems that there is a bulwark against warp disturbances here. There are no predators in the warp here. I have checked time and time again and to no avail. It... worries me."

Cassiel arched an eyebrow. "Explain."

Gallus was silent for a moment. "Theoretical: The warp is silent here even through the insanity plaguing the Imperium now."

"Practical?" Cassiel inquired, curiosity piqued.

"Something is the cause of this. Something powerful enough to block a warp storm. Something powerful enough to deny the Archenemy purchase here."

The implications could be dire, Cassiel realized, chastising himself for not thinking of it sooner. He pondered the disturbing information before turning to Gallus.

"Look into this Brother, and inform me of any other findings."

Gallus nodded and walked briskly back in the direction of the city.

Cassiel sighed and undid the seals on his helmet and pulled it off. The cool morning breeze chilled his sweat soaked face and hair and be breathed deeply. He spotted movement out of his peripheral vision and turned to see a weary and blurry eyed Ruby looking up at him with a small amount of concern.

"You seem troubled Huntress. Are you unwell?" He asked out of genuine concern.

"No... well yes. But not in a real sense?"

He cocked his eyebrow.

She sighed. "Why did they attack the city? An attack of those size is...unheard of. I mean its not impossible but the Goliaths? Cinder? I mean what's going on?"

He sighed.

"The enemies of humanity will always seek our destruction through brute force or through deception and trickery. We, as the defenders of humanity must stand to meet these foes for as long as they remain a threat."

She seemed kind of downcast.

"Will it ever stop?"

He shrugged one massive shoulder.

"Likely not."

That was when Qrow stepped in.

"Now hold on, she's just been through the wringer and you dump even more on them?"

He gestured to the Huntsmen and Huntresses who had heard the exchange.

"It all seems rather hopeless doesn't it?" She murmured.

Cassiel cut Qrow off with a cough before he could attempt to chastise him further.

"Nonsense." He said flatly as if it was an obvious truth.

Ruby and the rest looked as him quizzically.

"Hope may lead to disappointment occasionally to say that it's all hopeless is nonsense. A Primarch, _MY_ Primarch, walks the stars again even now. We have proud warriors that I can only look up to such as Lord Commander Dante of the Blood Angels chapter and Chapter Master Tu'Shan of the Salamanders chapter to lead us and the rest of humanity in these dark times. No, we have hope, though it may be fleeting."

His normally stoic features were alive with his truly and honestly held belief that humanity wasn't without hope no matter how dire. Calth was proof of this. Though it was an irradiated wasteland on the surface, the underground caverns and cities held billions of souls that have survived against all odds.

"No. Where you live, there will be hope. We will win. Eventually. It may take centuries of blood and toil but we will win." The other mortals were looking at him now. The Valean armed forces seemed to stand someone prouder at his outburst. Even the exhausted Huntresses seemed to perk up slightly.

He nodded in approval.

 _Elsewhere_

It wasn't very often that the being known as Salem was perturbed. She mostly threatened things with a cool indifference due to how far beneath her she thought they were.

And she was often right. But today she was rather... agitated.

Well... agitated was putting her anger lightly. She was livid. First her carefully laid plan to acquire the relic under Beacon was ruined by their sudden arrival and now they had thrown back the army of Grimm she'd taken months to cultivate. And now she had a stranger in front of her. A stranger in crimson armor, not unlike these... meddlers. But there were fundamental differences. The stranger's armor was't as clean. It had a rougher, more ramshackle look. Like it's parts had been replaced countless times. Upon rough chains hung many decorations of eight pointed stars and on his left pauldron was an evil looking face over a burning book. He had a book hanging from his hip and from what Salem could tell, the leather was not traditional leather.

Furthermore the stranger, who had removed his horned helmet, was pale beyond pale. Almost ghostly under the text that had been carved into his skull. His feature were sharp and cruel and his eyes... his eyes held something that Salem could not place. It was beyond malice, beyond cruelty, beyond sanity.

She growled in displeasure.

"And what do _you_ want?"

The man smiled.

"Why, I'm glad you ask my lady."

He said, placing his hands on her table and leaning forward.

"I believe you and I have a mutual foe. A foe we want nothing more than to see destroyed. You've seen the capabilities of my former cousins and both of us are certain that in their current strength, we can't defeat them alone. I simply offer an alliance."

Salem uncrossed her leg and looked at the man with interest. "What kind of alliance?"

He smiled.

"I come as an emissary of my Lord, Lorgar Aurellian. We simply wish to destroy the enemy that has wronged us so badly many years ago and to preach the glory of the Primordial Truth."

She huffed. She didn't believe the man. Not one bit. But what did she have to lose?

She couldn't die, the Brothers made sure of that millennia ago. She felt nothing but hate in her cruel heart and would do anything to see the human species, and by extension Ozpin, laid low.

"Fine. Show me what you can do and I'll consider it."

This time when the man smiled he bore his teeth. They were sharpened to razor points.

"Very well, my lady."

He stood and bowed.

Markus rotated his chassis and stared into the morning sunrise. His audio suite could pick up the groans of the wounded, human and Grimm alike, with little effort. The Redemptor chassis of Dreadnought was a marvel that bordered on the heretical to the Priests of Mars.

Not that he put much stock into those fanatics' beliefs.

He was flanked by a pair of some of the 10th Company detachment's Invictor warsuits, stripped down versions of his own armored sarcophagus as he made sure the slowly dissolving corpses of the larger Grimm stayed dead.

He crushed a heavily wounded Ursa under his massive 'foot' and grunted in satisfaction as its growls were silenced.

Penny took this moment to speak to him.

"Wow. Your friends did all this?"

"Battle-Brothers. And yes. The Brother-Captain isn't a fool. He lacks the experience of Captain Agemman or Captain Sicarius but he is rather keen on... shall we say 'spur of the moment' tactics. He probably got that from Captain Ventris. They seemed rather friendly."

He remembered Cassiel meeting the maverick of the 4th fondly. At the time, Cassiel was a student of doctrine and very by the book. However, meeting with the vaunted Uriel Ventris has done well to break some of the more detrimental rigidity his friend had been prone to. Granted, Captain Ventris warned the younger Captain that the rules and doctrine have a place and to realize there was often a good reason they existed.

"Who are they? Are they like Captain Cassiel?"

He 'shook his head'.

"No, they are vaunted heroes in their own rights. Legendary even by our standards. Cassiel is young and full of fire, as that overweight professor would say. I just wish he was more personable. He's always been rather distant with mortals. Though he seems to have found several kindred spirits in the Huntsmen ranks."

Penny seemed more subdued than normal. Usually the young 'girl' would be making animated conversation without the tech priests nearby to threaten her with deletion. But ever since the battle was decided, she seemed lost in thought.

"What ails you Huntress?" He asked finally as he rounded on his feet and continued his patrol, the pair of Invictors veering towards the forest.

Perhaps there were stragglers.

"Do you guys always fight like that? I remember you saying you fight against all kinds of aliens... and people."

Ah. There is was. Morality.

Normally, an Astartes would respond without hesitation that yes, they do unleash this manner of controlled butchery upon traitor human, xenos, and anything else that threatened humanity's manifest destiny.

However, Markus had learned of a rather elusive concept for his kind.

Tact.

"Mostly against our traitor kin. They are rather... merciless. We can not afford restraint against our own kind."

"And normal people..?"

He sighed.

"If we must."

"Oh."

She seemed disturbed. He held no regret for the carnage he had visited upon the enemies of man. However, his studies into human nature had shown that sometimes taking a life was not easy for a mortal.

"We do what we must. Sometimes the shield must become bloody to defend those behind us. It is a cruel fact, but that's why we choose the path of the warrior, no? So that we endure it so others don't have to."

She remained quiet and he 'sighed'. Perhaps the young girl would come to understand once Cassiel begins his strike against 'Salem'. The enemies of man must never be allowed to live once they have shown naked hostility.

There were many enemies to destroy in this age.


End file.
